


Some Poisoned Food For Thought

by tjstar



Series: no one looks up anymore [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Contacts with aliens, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mind Control, Supernatural Elements, Superpowers, UFOs, Violence, crop circles, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-05-29 11:54:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 56,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6373738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjstar/pseuds/tjstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh feels uncomfortable as Tyler’s hollow glance travels to his ‘I WANT TO BELIEVE’ tank top. Tyler’s face is emotionless, but his words come out with such a non-breakable confidence. </p><p>“You’re on my team, aren’t you?”</p><p>Josh’s breath hitches.</p><p>“What’s the team?” he asks cautiously. “The team of ‘The X-files’ fans?”</p><p>“The team of Believers,” Tyler rolls his eyes like he’s talking to a stupid baby and runs out of patience, but the knot of nervousness in Josh’s chest slowly unties itself.<br/>----<br/>Aka the story in which Tyler is obsessed with aliens, and Josh can’t leave him alone.<br/>----<br/> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkFTcKzF8c"> Trailer</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Josh Dun hates waiting. As much as he hates wasting his precious time, he hates that delivery service he’s signed to work for. There is a big cardboard box in the backseat, and Josh doesn’t even know what’s in that box, and he isn’t allowed to unpack it. Really, he hangs out there for nearly an hour, sitting on the hood of his car and waiting for that _T. Joseph_ guy. Josh’s boss had a phone conversation with that Joseph-dude and gave Josh that damned box; then Josh was told to come to an outskirt godforsaken road at 10PM despite the fact that his working hours were already over.

No address. Nothing.

There is a forest nearby, and Josh doesn’t like crazy strangers and crazy meeting-places. Shivering at the sudden gust of wind, he regrets that he isn’t wearing his uniform jacket.

The headlights snatch someone’s lanky silhouette, running to Josh’s side — it’s a short-haired guy dressed in a dark hoodie and black skinny jeans. T. Joseph, hopefully.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he breathes out instead of greeting.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Josh sighs, sliding off the hood and literally feeling the weight over his shoulders get less heavy. “Why couldn’t you make it in time?”

“I was busy,” he responds with an apologetic intonation, voice is scratchy and quiet.

Josh looks at him quizzically, seeing a tiny shadow of smile in his brown eyes. It’s like the air gets a little warmer. Not bad.

“What’s your name?” Josh taps his finger at the clipboard in his hand. “I need it… it’s just the rules of my job. So, your full name is…” he catches himself on speaking too fast; it’s not actually his usual manner of talking.

“Tyler Joseph,” he looks at his shoes and then quickly lifts his head up, _staring_ at Josh’s red hair.

“So, Mr. Joseph…”

“Just Tyler.”

“Oh, okay. I’m Josh,” he feels uncomfortable as Tyler’s hollow glance travels to his ‘I WANT TO BELIEVE’ tank top. Tyler’s face is emotionless, but his words come out with such a non-breakable confidence.

“You’re on my team, aren’t you?”

Josh’s breath hitches.

“What’s the team?” he asks cautiously. “The team of ‘The X-files’ fans?”

“The team of Believers,” Tyler rolls his eyes like he’s talking to a stupid baby and runs out of patience, but the knot of nervousness in Josh’s chest slowly unties itself.

They walk around the car to take the box from the backseat, and Josh is really about to ask what Tyler is going to do now, but all of it leads to an awkward end.

“You did a great job,” Tyler says as he grabs a massive box, hugs it to his chest and turns away, heading straight to the _woods,_ and Josh almost exclaims ‘hey, isn’t it dangerous?’ but he just blinks, watching Tyler’s back disappear in the trees.

 

***

All the next week is pretty chaotic — roads, houses and apartments, a lot of people of all kinds — Josh drives across the city, delivering the orders and not having any free time. He’s dreaming about the weekend.

Josh occasionally thinks about the guy from the forest while he’s gripping the steering wheel; he barely avoids causing a car accident, getting cursed by the van driver.

In general, he’s doing his job without any harm.

One middle-aged lady calls him a ‘sweet boy’ and offers him to stay _for a night_ , but no, thank you very much — Josh just hands her the microwave, excuses himself and leaves.

This woman is probably much weirder than Tyler is.

 

***

Josh hasn’t expected to get another call from his boss with the request to deliver four nameless boxes of different sizes to T. Joseph again.

It’s almost midnight, and Josh thinks he has to get Tyler’s phone number just to call and ask him not to be such an asshole. Of course, Tyler is late, and Josh just sits in his car, getting bored. At least, that delivery service is paying him. Josh tries to convince himself that _he_ _’s not_ _worr_ _ied_ , really — there is no reason for checking the watch every second. But honestly, he just wants to be home.

Hearing the knocking at the side window, Josh jumps up on his seat before realizing it’s just Tyler. _Finally._ But when Josh gets out of the car he immediately notices a bloody cut on Tyler’s forehead, decorated with a pretty big bruise.

“Hey, man. What happened?”

But Josh loses any desire to ask questions as Tyler suddenly sways, and Josh grabs his upper arm, holding him upright; they lean against the side of Josh’s car, and Tyler rests his head on Josh’s shoulder, confusing him even more. 

Tyler sniffs tiredly, pressing his cold nose against Josh’s neck; he smells like alcohol, but at all he’s completely sober.

“I hate bars, did I mention that? I got pinned against the wall by some huge creep, and then he smashed my head against the table. I hope I gave you enough information?”

Josh feels like he got kicked in the chest.

“I knocked out that parody of Hulk Hogan. I think I’ve sprained my wrist, though,” Tyler shrugs. “Well, okay. Give me my boxes, I gotta go home. You аre doing a great job…”

He almost falls face first as he takes a single step away from Josh. Tyler is barely conscious, and Josh doesn’t want to hear in the morning news something like ‘a young guy was found in the woods, dead’.

“Hey. Hey, you’re not going alone, okay?” Josh throws Tyler’s arm over his shoulder and Tyler snorts stubbornly, touching his face and smearing red liquid all over his eyebrow. 

“I’m fine,” Tyler protests weakly as Josh helps him climb into the passenger seat and buckles him up.

“You’re passing out. So, where are you living?” Josh asks, starting the engine.

“In the wood,” Tyler replies darkly.

 _‘Of course,’_ Josh thinks melancholically as Tyler closes his reddened eyes and takes a deep breath, shaking a little.

Josh’s heart clenches, but he prefers to keep silent as they’re driving through the forest, maneuvering between the tall and thin trees on their way. Tyler is pretty much out of everything at the moment, he only mumbles ‘left’, ‘right’, ‘move forward’, and Josh obeys, unsure if they are not going to go astray.

Probably, they’re just moving circles, because Tyler doesn’t want to show his secret location, but forty minutes later they drive up to a grey travel trailer parked in the middle of nowhere. Josh stops the car near this house on wheels; there is the satellite antenna on top of it; Josh sees some tiny flashes and hears a light beeping sound coming from the inside.

Tyler’s face gets paler. Maybe, Josh is ghostly-white too.

“Can you tell me who you are? I’m not pressing.”

“I’m an ufologist,” Tyler mutters reluctantly, fidgeting on his seat.

This Joseph-kid looks like a college freshman, and hey — isn’t ufology a pseudoscience?

Tyler unbuckles himself and gets out of the car, stumbling on the grass.

“Little green men and all that stuff? Seriously?” Josh smirks, following Tyler.

“Green? Why do you think aliens are green?” Tyler argues grumpily. “Why the hell does everyone insult my hobby?”

Keeping the words in the prison of his mouth was a good idea, Josh admits.

“Sorry. Really, I’m sorry, I just made a joke,” he raises his hands protectively. “Sorry.”

Tyler’s ribcage jerks under the dark fabric of his hoodie; he loudly breathes out through his nose, but he manages not to spill his rage all over Josh. Josh grabs the boxes from the back of his car and goes to the travel trailer, ignoring Tyler’s attempts to stop him.

“You can’t get inside!” Tyler stands in front of the door, blocking Josh’s path.

“You are a scientist, right? You can erase my memories of this place,” Josh nearly chuckles as Tyler rolls his eyes.

“Are you kidding me?” hesitating, Tyler rummages in his pocket, finds a key and opens the door.

Well, Josh is good at convincing people.

Josh thinks that he’s just entered a mobile laboratory, and actually, he’s impressed: he almost gets stuck in a cobweb of multicolored wires connected to the antennas and a laptop with a complex diagrams on the monitor; there are like five different radios, printed UFOs pictures and articles on the walls and empty RedBull cans lying almost all over the floor.

Tyler sighs miserably behind Josh’s back.

Josh finds the first available chair and sets heavy boxes onto it.

“What are you doing here?” he hopes he hasn’t removed any wires off their places.

“Waiting,” Tyler sighs.

Waiting for Josh’s uncontrollable fountain of curiosity? Okay, Josh is not that kind of guy who gets offended at getting some cloudy answers, but anyway, Tyler is the King of Illogicality.

And he proves this in every single possible way.

Tyler unzips his hoodie and throws it onto the floor; Josh’s heartbeat somehow synchronizes with that fast beeping sound from the laptop. Tyler isn’t wearing any shirt underneath, and Josh distracts himself, looking at the wall of newspaper clippings and reading the article about the Roswell UFO Incident.

But gazing at Tyler is more interesting.

Tyler has tattoos: an outlines of rectangles and triangles — or it’s just a rectangle with a pattern of crossed lines — on his tanned chest, something like black bracelets on his left arm and a vertical line of symbols on his right forearm. Nothing multicolored, though. Actually, Josh is on the half-way of getting a full sleeve tattoo all over his right arm, some surrealistic picture of a tree — picking the colors is a big headache.

Meanwhile, Tyler takes a pack of ice out of the portable fridge and puts it over the injury on his forehead, looking more than just exhausted.

Josh clears his throat.

“What’s in the boxes?”

“Remember the first time? It was a telescope,” Tyler waves his hand at the corner of his tiny living room where the telescope stands. “Now it’s the new computer system unit, some microchips and circuit boards, and also some instruments to fix all this shit,” he adds tiredly, flopping down onto the built-in-wall bunk.

Josh wipes his sweaty palms on his shorts, unable to tear his eyes away from a shirtless Tyler. He’s skinny.

“Nice.”

“I’m trying to detect the signals from Space,” Tyler explains, shifting on the bed and letting Josh sit down beside him.

“Any success?” Josh asks politely.

“Sometimes I want to make a noose of these wires and hang myself. The system gets overheated easily,” Tyler removes the icepack off his face and winces. “I’ve lost the results of my research of the past month!”

Obviously, that’s the reason why he decided to upgrade the technical equipment.

“That sucks,” Josh almost reaches his hand to pat Tyler’s bare shoulder, but the beeping sound grows louder; Tyler storms off the bed and runs to his laptop.

Hitting some buttons, he lets out a sigh of relief as the alarm gets turned off, but Josh still feels hella uncomfortable.

“You are not like _the others_ ,” Tyler’s voice sounds odd.

“Like _who_?” Josh keeps himself from making any sudden movements. There are _too many_ wires in the trailer.

“Nevermind.”

Tyler shrugs apathetically and re-tunes one of the radios, stirring the antenna slightly; he finds nothing but just the white noise, lowering the volume of it.

Then, suddenly, he doubles over, hyperventilating. Something is very wrong.  

“No, no, not now,” Tyler whispers, then his mood changes, and he yells at Josh hysterically. “Go away!”

Apparently, Josh is hallucinating. It seems like the room shrinks; all the patterns on Tyler’s skin are _shining_. Almost like those glow-in-the-dark tattoos, but it’s obviously not just a phosphoric ink, it’s like Tyler’s marked skin creates the rays of a bright yellow light filling up the space.

It’s blinding both of them.

Josh covers his teary eyes with the crook of his elbow; he’s paralyzed by hot waves of energy, coming from Tyler and spraying everything with a golden light.

“It-t starts,” he wheezes.

Josh forcedly takes a step backwards as Tyler crashes down to his knees and keeps repeating ‘go away, don’t tell _them,_ just go away.’

The anxiety takes over Josh’s brain, but he’s too scared to scream. He’s terrified of Tyler’s state, of that annoying beeping that sounds like Morse code; Josh just wants this night to be over, because what the fuck is going on? Is it Tyler’s goal as a scientist or is he just dying right there? Josh makes an uncertain attempt to move closer and help Tyler get up, but second later he realizes he can’t touch his abnormally warm skin.

“Go. Away,” Tyler pleads, burying his head in his hands.

Is this the Connection?

Josh looks at Tyler’s glowing symbols, and he can swear the new one ‘tattoo’ appears — the ‘ii’ sign on Tyler’s left bicep, right above those black circles-bracelets. Just a faint outlines at first, but then it gets brighter, like an invisible paintbrush draws a picture using Tyler’s body like white canvas.

The rectangles and lines on Tyler’s sweaty skin are still emitting a visible light, but it isn’t so intense now. Like someone turns the illumination off. 

“Please, Josh. G-go _outside_ ,” Tyler stutters, rubbing his freshly-marked shoulder.

Seriously, it feels like someone — or something — has changed a chemical composition of the air: it’s hot and thick, and Josh’s lungs hurt as if he might faint due to the lack of oxygen.

“But…” Josh croaks out, gasping for air. Shit, he really needs to breathe, his surroundings start to lose their shapes, and the ringing in his ears drowns out the other sounds.

“I’ll be fine,” Tyler’s words are more coherent now; he sits on the floor, leaning his back against the side of his bunk. “I promise.”

The color of his tattoos bit by bit gets back to normal, but the skin around that ‘ii’ thing is red and inflamed. Josh is sure the procedure was painful as hell.

He nearly slumps onto the ground as he walks out of the door, but he manages to get a grip onto the nearest tree. Josh still sees gleaming lines and dots dancing in front of his eyes; a sickening bout of panic hits him, and he isn’t sure if he wants to come back and meet Tyler face-to-face again.

Josh feels guilty.

Josh’s car is still here.

He takes a deep breath, getting dizzy at the pressure over his chest; _‘in and out’_ he counts mentally. _In and out_. In and out, until Josh’s heartbeat slows enough not to put him at danger of a heart attack. 

_In and out._

Josh throws his head back and looks at the clear night sky, thinking of what the Space can hide behind its endless darkness.

Tyler probably knows it better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to ShadowRealm for the beta :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler is not afraid of the monsters under his bed, _his_ monsters come from above.

Josh wants to howl at the moon, but he just starts counting the stars instead.

He was the witness of some unbelievable crap and now without any doubt, his life is in danger. To confirm his fears, Josh hears the grass rustling, and he almost screams, feeling something warm sliding down his shoulder. _A hand_. Nearly tripping over, Josh turns around and sees only a guilty-looking Tyler in front of him, still shirtless. There’s a constellation of iridescent glitter all over the black color of his patterns; maybe, it’s just the starlight is playing these tricks.

Josh can’t get enough oxygen into his lungs. He’s only twenty-three, and he isn’t planning to get murdered by the hands of some mentally instable ufologist. No, he isn’t sure if Tyler is a psycho. He can just guess.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler says, instantly taking a step backwards like a frightened animal.

Josh hopes he doesn’t look like a hunter.

“Don’t be sorry,” he replies. Asking Tyler about his state is stupid, but Josh is a pretty friendly guy who can’t ignore this important part. “How are you feeling?”

“Why do you care?” Tyler presses his palm to the new sign on his arm; it’s still red at the edges and even swollen a bit. “I’m fine, of course. Just _great_ ,” he adds bitterly.

So, the question is: who is he? Or _what_ is he?

Trying to save the remains of his sanity, Josh repeats mentally that everything is alright because Tyler doesn’t make any attempts to kill him. A dim light coming from the travel trailer makes everything blurry; the darkness is hiding in the trees and bushes, and there are only the ghosts of shadows on Tyler’s face, and Josh notices another detail: that nasty cut on Tyler’s forehead is gone without a trace.

“No bruise,” Josh barely keeps himself from wiping a light smear of crimson off Tyler’s eyebrow.

“Fast skin regeneration,” Tyler shrugs, jerking his head at the louder wave of beeping.

Josh finds himself getting used to it.

“But there’s a burn on your shoulder anyway,” he reaches his hand out, but the pads of his fingers feel hot on the half-way of touching Tyler’s new tattoo.  

“It’s not my fault,” Tyler covers the symbol with his hand again. “And it’s not a _burn_. But it stings.”

Josh gets distracted by the weird hissing noise from the grass and ponders if there are some poisonous snakes or shit like this; he loses the train of thought as Tyler speaks again, keeping his voice extremely quiet. It’s like both of them are trying not to scare each other even more.

“I need to be alone, Josh, I’m tired,” Tyler hunches under Josh’s gaze. “I swear I’m not going to bother you with delivering anything again.”

“But it was a good experience,” Josh responds with a chuckle, heading to his car and searching for the keys in his pocket.

Tyler plods after Josh all the way to his vehicle silently, but he asks that inevitably-fateful question as soon as Josh gets into the driver’s seat.

“You are good at keeping secrets, aren’t you?”

It sounds like a well-concealed plea. No, Josh doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in the nuthouse, sharing the stories about Tyler-from-the-woods, so — yes — he’s good at keeping his lips sealed. Sometimes. But it’s exactly that case.

When Josh suddenly starts laughing, Tyler gives him a concerned look like he’s a doctor, and Josh is his patient who’s having a nervous breakdown. Maybe, Josh is close to it, his head is already screwed up and he can’t get a firm grip onto viscous reality.

“Do you see something funny or what?” Tyler snaps his fingers in front of Josh’s nose.

“No, man,” Josh swallows the last giggle. “It’s just… You can heal yourself, and you are getting tattoos out of nowhere, but you can’t just erase my memories? Really?”

What, he likes that scene from ‘Men in Black’ movie.

Listening to Josh’s ranting, Tyler smiles; only for a second, but he smirks good-naturedly and even stops covering the marks on his skin.

“Relax. I’m not going to give you amnesia, but I don’t usually talk to strangers,” Tyler taps his fingers on his thighs nervously. “I don’t think people are ready for _this_ , like, you were the first person who’s ever seen how my Contact goes.”

“It’s a big honor for me. Being your _first_ , you know,” Josh blurts out, wishing he could bite off his tongue each time he wants to joke. But for the guy who regularly gets his ass kicked by some supernatural energy, Tyler looks pretty good. Attractive even.

“Yeah. At least you’re still alive.”

“I’m lucky,” Josh agrees, getting ready for a pretty long ride.

At all, Tyler acts like nothing extraordinary has happened, and Josh starts to think that it was just a dream, and he’s about to wake up in his apartment. Having a hangover, probably.

“Are you okay to drive?” Tyler asks worriedly.

“Absolutely,” Josh assures.  _‘We’re not spending the night together’_ this thought crawls into his brain.

Tyler’s eyes fill up with sadness or maybe it’s just Josh’s imagination. Or _maybe_ , he’d like Josh to stay; there is a big chance that Josh wouldn’t refuse.

But Tyler doesn’t say anything.

It’s almost dawn, the colors of the sky become brighter within every minute; pulling the car out of the forest, Josh feels like he misses his comfort zone, leaving Tyler standing in the trees like a Slenderman or some creepy creature like that.

Does he feel lonely sometimes? Likely, his best friends-aliens don’t let him get bored.

 

***

Losing the track through the wood like four times, Josh gets into his small apartment at around 5AM; he only finds energy to make it to his bed, somehow managing to fall asleep before his head hits the pillow. He sleeps _literally_ all day, seeing in his dreams chunks of flashbacks from the last night: _gleaming marks on Tyler’s skin, harsh beeping sounds and paralyzing fear and everything gets brighter and brighter and brighter…_

_Thud._

When Josh opens his eyes, he realizes that he’s sprawled across the wooden floor with a pile of bedsheets and blankets on top of him. There’s a nauseating buzz in his head, and his vision can’t find the focus; as soon as Josh gets all his senses back, he scrambles back onto his bed, but the sleep doesn’t come. Josh groans and rolls onto his stomach, pressing his nose against the damp pillow. He’s still wearing last night clothes, and he needs to wash the dust and sweat off his body; Josh groans again, forces himself to get up and, swaying, lazily goes to the bathroom.

He feels devastated. The emptiness in his chest is indescribable; Josh can’t get rid of his melancholia during a cold shower, can’t forget about it watching TV — come on, there’s the marathon of the X-files old episodes, is this a conspiracy?!

 _‘I’m not crazy,’_ Josh mumbles under his breath as he grabs the keys from the bedside table and runs down the stairs and straight to the parking lot. _‘I’m not crazy,’_ he repeats, starting the engine.

 

***

 _‘Fuck it all, I’m crazy,’_ Josh thinks as he drives his car through the maze of trees; of course, he’s managed to get lost, this was so obvious!.. He’s about to bang his already aching head against the steering wheel, because everything seems kind of fuzzy now, and Josh has never been so disoriented. There is another hour of useless searching — _‘come on Tyler, were you real?’_ — and then Josh lets out a short triumphant yelp like he’s just won the lottery, because he finds that grey travel trailer with the satellite antenna and with _Tyler_ somewhere nearby.

Stepping onto the brake pedal, Josh jumps out of the car and sprints to the familiar house on wheels; his nervousness kills all the feelings as he notices an open door. Josh gulps down a sour lump in his throat and enters the trailer cautiously as if he might get attacked by that tattooing-power or a huge octopus. Nothing has changed; the same wires-radios-antennas and the laptop on the table. The beeping.

He only makes a few steps before he finds Tyler — he is sleeping with his mouth slightly open, his hand swings over the side of the bunk he’s lying on. Tyler is not afraid of the monsters under his bed, _his_ monsters come from above.

This peaceful picture is hypnotizing; Tyler’s chest rises and falls steadily, and Josh can still count his ribs under his blue t-shirt. He doesn’t actually want to bother him, but there is no chance that Josh can just go away without saying anything. So he knocks on the wall politely, once, twice; Tyler slowly opens his eyes and gazes at Josh drowsily as if he can’t recognize his face.

“It-t’s you? Wow. You?”

Maybe, he always stutters when he’s scared or surprised. Well, that’s fine.

“Me. I don’t know, I just- I couldn’t leave you like that, so, I kind of remembered the way here and came. Is this okay?” Josh shifts from one foot to the other; he’s ready to take a metaphorical punch from Tyler.

“I don’t actually know what ‘okay’ means,” Tyler mutters, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to babysit me, I’m like twenty-two, I can take care of myself…”

“Do I look like a babysitter?” Josh asks, disappointed.

“Not exactly,” Tyler admits, giving Josh an appraising glance and obviously getting satisfied. “Man, I forgot one important thing- you…’ he bends over, groping something under his bed; then Tyler fishes out a crumpled tinfoil hat and gives it to Josh. “You have to wear this.”

Josh hesitates, holding the hat, but Tyler is waiting — Josh is about to believe almost everything he’s going to say.

“Hm, okay,” Josh adjusts the tinfoil hat over his red curls; it’s not that Josh _doesn’t_ hear a faint laughter sliding off Tyler’s lips.

What if this thing is really working, and the aliens won’t be able to control his mind right now. Hopefully.

“It suits you,” Tyler compliments, and Josh only mutters a weak ‘thanks’, but then Tyler just takes the hat off his head and squeezes the foil in his hand.

“Hey? Why?! I don’t want to be brainwashed by green men!” Josh resents, attempting to catch a smashed hat back- now it looks just like a silver ball.

“I was joking,” Tyler dodges Josh’s hands as he tries to grab his wrist. “Foil is only good for roasting chicken- hey!”

Huffing, Josh wraps his hands around Tyler’s stomach, and they both end up losing balance and falling onto the bunk, their legs tangled together. Josh even forgets that Tyler isn’t his best friend yet — what are you talking about — he’s like that ‘I-know-you-for-a-hundred-years’ kind of guy, a next-door neighbor who doesn’t appear too often, but who’s always there anyway.

Tyler is ticklish; laughing, he wriggles and gasps for air, and finally gives up and unclenches his fist; the foil wad falls onto the floor, and Josh steps onto it while Tyler is still out of breath.

“You have to exercise more,” Josh smirks, poking Tyler’s side.

“I did it on purpose, I’m actually much stronger than you,” Tyler responds, trying to kick Josh off his bed but failing.

“Really? Do you want to bet?”

“Why not?!”

“Well. Next time, dude,” Josh regrets that he has the stupidest work-schedule, and he really can’t spend more time in the trailer despite the fact that he’d like to catch a couple of aliens only to show Tyler that they’re green. He starts thinking that friendship with Tyler includes accepting — and believing — his theories; in the middle of Josh’s internal dialogue, suddenly, Tyler leans closer to him, resting his head on Josh’s shoulder. 

“I can’t believe that you came only to check me out,” Tyler confesses quietly, his hair tickles Josh’s cheek as he moves a bit.

“I just couldn’t get this shit out of my head, so I had to make sure it was real,” Josh responds without having a clue what he’s supposed to do when Tyler clings to him.

“What if somebody saw you?” Tyler promptly begins to panic.

“I was careful,” Josh whispers, hugging him and feeling like it’s the only right decision. He has no desire to push Tyler away, considering that getting back in the wood was his own brilliant idea.

Tyler is insecure, and the tension in his muscles won’t go away even when Josh starts massaging his neck. He can’t deal with a heavy weight of loneliness, and probably, now he just throws his mask away. Josh is the only real person who _knows_ his secret and just accepts it — Josh doesn’t ask him confusing questions, doesn’t want to twist his soul inside out — Tyler doesn’t need all this shit at the moment. He just needs somebody who will tell him that everything is gonna get better. Even if it’s not true.

They just sit like this — an hour or so — surrounded by the walls with UFO-pictures, and for the first time that constant beeping sound doesn’t seem so annoying. No alarms, no paranormal activity, and if Josh will be able to wake up early tomorrow he will get a chance not to be late for work-

“Okay,” Tyler sighs, pulling himself out of Josh’s warm embrace. “Let’s go. I can show you the shorter way out of there.”

To know the shorter way would be really cool; certainly, Tyler lives in the middle of a forest-version of the Bermuda Triangle.

But Tyler knows how to trick it.

This night Josh drives home, happily singing along with the car radio; the reason of his joyfulness is very special — finally, he’s got Tyler’s number in the contacts in his cellphone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this chapter was a bit fluffy


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Have you ever wanted to leave this planet?”
> 
> “Sometimes,” Tyler replies. “Maybe I’m just losing my mind due to loneliness.”
> 
> Maybe, he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blood warning

But not everything is so cool. Being ignored is the worst thing ever; three days have passed after the last meeting with Tyler, and Josh still convinces himself that he’s just being overdramatic, and he just has to find a distraction, but-

Tyler doesn’t call. More than that, Tyler doesn’t pick up his phone as Josh finds the courage and calls him first after an hour of deliberation.

After another hour of deliberation Josh goes to extremes. Finding Tyler’s travel trailer in the wood is much easier now: it’s the daytime, and he knows the new way — it’s even more godforsaken road, though, but it saves his time. But it doesn’t save Josh from such a frustration like finding Tyler’s trailer closed.

Josh stubbornly knocks at the door. No result. Josh knocks harder, even though he understands the problem — Tyler doesn’t need _anyone_ in his life, it’s clear, he has even isolated himself from the external world, he avoids every-fucking-one. Josh slams his fist against the metal wall and sighs, turning away and heading back to his car; it’s a miracle, but at the same moment he notices Tyler, running to him from the side of the road. 

“Hey man,” Tyler greets, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and then waving his hand.

“Hi,” Josh lets out a loud sigh of relief. “I called,” he informs sourly.

“Woah, sorry, I was jogging, and my phone was still in the trailer,” Tyler explains, pulling the keys off the pocket of his loose hoodie. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I called in sick,” Josh lies sheepishly. He has just turned his phone off, hoping that his boss will believe the bullshit about crazy traffic and weak signal of his phone.

“But not because you’re _really_ sick?” Tyler scowls.

Josh shakes his head.

“Just wanted to hang out with you,” he blurts out and promptly bites his tongue. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m planning to connect the computer system unit, like _finally_ I have time for it, wanna join?”

“Gladly,” Josh perks up. “And… I respect aliens.”

All he gets in response from Tyler is a restrained ‘thank you’.

 

***

In the evening they’re sitting on the top of Tyler’s travel trailer and watching the stars; Tyler offers to bring the telescope to look at the Space closer, but it would be problematic with all the antennas and Josh’s irrational fear that they might drop it on the ground and smash it.

So, they’re just talking. 

“I like this forest,” Josh says, following with his gaze a small gleaming dot on the sky.

Tyler’s tattoos are permeated with a golden dust of the starlight, forming their own Universe on his body; he doesn’t hide them anymore, he’s wearing a sleeveless shirt, and Josh takes his own t-shirt off, letting a warm night air brush over his skin.

“My previous location was better, but then the dude with a gun came, and I had to drive away from his cornfield. I’m pretty sure I left some crop circles that night, while leaving that lovely place,” Tyler chuckles.

“You’re such a troublemaker,” Josh teases.

Tyler nods with a little laughter, but then his positive attitude swings to the sadder side.

“You know, I’m not a professional, but... sometimes I’m just sitting here and waiting _for them_. For aliens, if this makes sense,” he sighs. “No one understands.”

“I understand,” Josh assures fervently. “Have you ever wanted to leave this planet?”

“Sometimes,” Tyler replies. “Maybe I’m just losing my mind due to loneliness.”

Maybe, he is.

This time, Josh spends the night in Tyler’s travel trailer. And the next night. And the next.

 

***

They sleep together; it’s quite awkward with Tyler’s habit of kicking in his sleep, and sometimes Josh accidentally pushes him off their not-too-big bed. Everything changes after the one embarrassing Sunday morning — Josh wakes up with a familiar pulsation in his lower stomach, and _fuck-_ really, Josh hasn’t planned to touch his friend’s crotch through the fabric of his pants. Seriously. In addition to this, Josh hasn’t expected to feel Tyler’s hard thrust into his palm.

They pretend it is just a coincidence.

After that, Tyler claims that sleeping on the mattress on the floor is much better because _‘no offense, Josh, but you’re too warm.’_

Okay. They’re not a couple, but Josh keeps coming in the forest almost every evening after work.

 

***

 _‘The Moon is crashing down’_ is what Josh thinks as he jolts awake to a rasping sound, nearly falling off the bunk onto Tyler, but it takes a second to figure out that there’s no Tyler in the trailer. Everything is too bright and too unreal and _too loud;_  the door is wide open like a portal to another dimension, and there’s nothing but a thick veil of white light that sneaks into Josh’s hiding place.

Josh feels ill at the realization that Tyler is somewhere _outside,_ and he stumbles over Tyler’s empty mattress on the floor; he isn’t sure why he can’t control his trembling legs, and he clamps his hands over his ears to block the harsh shrilling that comes somewhere from the sky.

“Tyler?” Josh calls, taking one more uncertain step. “Where are you?”

He bends over and screws his eyes shut as soon as he’s out of the trailer; the power of light is overwhelming, and the arrow of a whistling sound shoots through Josh’s temples hard enough to make his nose bleed. Josh feels pretty much like he’s got a heatstroke or concussion or both, but he forces himself to stay awake, and he can’t believe his eyes as he throws his head back.

Mostly, there’s the light. The same crystal-white shadow with tiny bits of dust rising from the ground; Josh can’t bear the brightness of reality, and a metal taste in the back of his throat is hideous. He’s sick — he either gulped a lot of his own blood or he’s just going to vomit it from his stomach. Josh steps onto something sharp with his bare foot, but he can’t look down at his probable injury. The flashes of light and sound are swirling around him, and he just keeps staring at this obediently until he sees the shape of something _huge and round_ in the sky, _something_ that creates this sickening kaleidoscope.

 _‘They came for Tyler, those fucking aliens are going to take_ _him!’_

Josh yells inside of his head, but there’s the humming in his ears, and he can barely hear his desperate thoughts. “No,” Josh mutters, closing his eyes and feeling a burning sensation on his eyelids. “You! Can’t!”

He clutches the sides of head and tilts it forward — _‘too bright, too bad, too painful’_ — the trees start to swim in front of Josh’s eyes; looking around, he can’t even recognize at first that the person in a white t-shirt and underwear is Tyler.

Terrified, Josh sprints in Tyler’s direction; he’s lying on his side, unconscious; the blood running from Tyler’s nose slowly collects in a small puddle, to contrast with the green grass.

“Hey! Hey, Tyler, wake up!” Josh screams, kneeling next to him and checking his pulse on the carotid artery; Tyler stirs a little, but he doesn’t even have strength to lift his head up. “Fuck, dude, we have to get back into the trailer, get up, please- we’re in fucking danger, come on!” Josh repeats, moving around frantically and managing to catch Tyler under the armpits.

The humming sound grows louder.

“I… I missed my chance…” Tyler croaks out helplessly, spitting out his red saliva.

Shit, it’s not the right time for conversations like this; the temperature of the air gets hotter and hotter, and Josh is pretty sure he’s getting sunburns or UFO-burns all over his hunched bare back, and they don’t have any free seconds to stay there. 

“Tyler, shit, move,” Josh coaxes, tugging at the front of Tyler’s t-shirt.

He _can_ carry him bridal style all the way back to trailer, but most likely he _might_ just lose consciousness within the first couple of steps.

The light won’t let him save their lives. The light- Josh gets scared of the suspicion that he got blinded, but no, it’s just the returning of the night. The spaceship — or whatever it was — has just disappeared, the darkness is almost comforting, and the only lightened spot is the travel trailer.

“Oh G-god, my head,” Tyler groans, sitting up and then slowly balancing himself on his feet, holding onto Josh.

“Yeah, same,” Josh responds only not to let the silence eat their minds.

Red liquid dribbles from Josh’s chin, but Tyler’s nosebleed is much worse.

With great effort Josh hauls Tyler back to the house on wheels — hey, it wasn’t even that far — and shoves him into the bunk; Josh is already able to go and take some water, a cloth or toilet paper, and he’s about to start dealing with the aftermath of the Aliens Invasion, but Tyler is just a panicking mess. _Josh has almost lost him._

“I’ve heard them,” Tyler utters, sniffing loudly. He almost stops breathing as Josh moves a single inch away from him.

“You _what_?” Josh asks again, nestling on the bed beside him.

“It was impossible to recognize _their_ voices, and I felt like my head was going to explode- like, I had to talk to _them_ , but there was _too much_ pain, and then…” Tyler swallows, his sharp Adam’s apple jerks up and down like it might tear the skin on his throat apart. “I’m n-not sure. But I was in some hall or something,” he wipes a strong red trickle with the back of his hand, but it doesn’t help.

“Is this the only thing you remember? What hall? Any other details?” Josh hasn’t heard any Voices, to be honest, there only was that horrible rasping in his head; but he believes, he had read some stories like this when he was a kid.

Tyler shrugs.

“Just a big empty hall. I can’t get over the Connection, I’m _weak_ , why do they torture me?!” he cries out, digging his short fingernails into the flesh of Josh’s shoulder and squeezing it hard.

It’s not a good sign. Tyler is totally wrecked, but one hysterical guy is somewhat better than two hysterical guys in one room, so Josh struggles with the urge to scream and shudder as Tyler’s wet and sticky face presses to his bare chest, marking him with drops of his blood. It’s gross.

“You’re not weak,” Josh whispers, cringing as a crimson bead slides down to his lip. “I’m here, right? Focus on this, take deep breaths,” he wraps his arms around Tyler.

Comforting Tyler somehow helps him calm down.

Unfortunately, Tyler’s ‘deep breaths’ end up with a spasmodic huffing and spreading more blood from his nose all over Josh, but at least he tries to follow Josh’s instructions. Tyler is fighting with his damaged inner self wordlessly; he clenches his fists, adding the bruises to the tattoo on Josh’s arm.

Tyler’s geometric patterns are _dead_. Not like they’re just normally dark without any gleaming — ‘dead’ is the best word for describing them; _dead_ like a black screen of a broken phone, _dead_ like a black hole.

Josh dabs at his nose again and frowns — the blood is still leaking, a building pressure pushes it out each time he moves his head. He wriggles in Tyler’s grasp, and Tyler reluctantly allows him to go out for a minute, only to find a towel and some washcloth. Josh hands Tyler the cloth and pinches his own nostrils with a slightly filthy towel, hoping he and Tyler won’t catch any diseases.

It’s pitch dark outside, and only the faint lights from the trailer’s ceiling give them a hint of safety. Belatedly, Josh locks the door and then sits down onto the bunk again, closer to Tyler who has finally stopped shaking from the nightmare he’s just went through.

“I don’t know what happened, Josh,” he sighs guiltily.

“The new level of the Contact?” Josh assumes, his voice sounds nasally, and Tyler makes muffled noises in agreement, slightly choking on his unspoken words. “Sh, man, breathe. Just breathe, okay?”

“I can’t. My brain is running out through my nose,” Tyler complains brokenly, taking a red-soaked cloth off his face and immediately pressing it back.

“Are you sure that we don’t have to take you to the hospital?” Josh gently checks his nose out — it gets a bit better but not wonderful anyway — before turning to Tyler and admitting that his formerly-white t-shirt is ruined beyond repair.

Tyler gives him a glance full of unconcealed pain.

“How do you imagine this? ‘Hello, we’ve seen the UFO in the wood where we live, and also I think I’m cursed now, and my nose is fucked up’. Great idea, Josh,” he quips, pulling his knees to his chest.

“Cursed?”

“Doesn’t it all look like a curse?”

“It looks more like agent Mulder’s workdays,” Josh smirks.

“Shut up, Scully,” Tyler’s bony elbow connects with Josh’s ribs.

“Hey dude, I can’t be Scully, I’m not a skeptic! I’m on your Team of believers, remember?”

“It’s hard to forget,” Tyler grumbles, throwing the cloth away. “But I’m scared.”

“Yeah, me too. But it’s normal, right?”

Josh takes a mental note that Tyler’s nose is relatively fine now. Tyler zones out for a minute, staring in nowhere and seeing something no one else is allowed to see, and then he whispers one single word-

“Right.”      

 

***

Tyler moans.

It’s early in the morning, and thin threads of light hit through the trailer’s window, but Josh doesn’t remember falling asleep; he finds himself sitting on Tyler’s bed and leaning his back against the wall, his body is numb because Tyler is sleeping with his head on Josh’s lap. He’s probably dreaming of something either nightmarish or erotic; Tyler lets out another groggy moan, gripping the bedsheets.

As a good friend, Josh has to shake him awake, but he’s sure that Tyler will feel more than just terrible if he won’t get enough sleep after their Contact. So, Josh just runs his fingers through Tyler’s hair; Tyler murmurs something incoherent but doesn’t wake up, rolling onto his side. Relaxing a bit, Josh blinks sleepily, but then his hand stops at the small bump behind Tyler’s left ear, there is something solid and _foreign_ right under his skin. Without thinking twice, Josh presses his thumb to a strangely hot spot; Tyler suddenly shudders, it’s like a tiny electric discharge flowing through his body.

“Hey, it hurts,” he mutters wearily before pushing himself into a sitting position and stretching.

“Sorry, I just noticed that thing,” Josh apologizes, licking a copper taste off his lip.

“What thing?” Tyler yawns, touching his sore area blindly. “Wait… What the heck is this?!”

He sounds half-surprised and half-scared, inspecting the skin behind his ear concernedly; he might’ve hit his head on the stone when he fell on the ground, but he couldn’t hit his head _that hard_ without being able to heal the injury within a few hours. There are the stains of fresh blood all over his nostrils and on the tip of his nose; apparently, Tyler’s nose has started bleeding again while he slept.

A dull ache splashes across Josh’s skull; he is afraid that he might puke all over Tyler’s red-stained bed. They can deal with it — they just have to grab some ice and painkillers, clean themselves properly, and then things will certainly get better; Josh nods to himself and gets up from the bunk carefully.

Hissing in discomfort, Tyler keeps rubbing his neck, and then his eyes go wide with fear as the realization of what’s wrong overwhelms him.

“Josh,” Tyler whispers, sitting on the mattress cross-legged and swaying back and forth. “Josh. They implanted something into me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally i wrote about the UFO


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things officially go downhill once Josh faints at his workplace.

“What the f- do you know anything about such cases?”

There is a good reason for swearing, but Josh doesn’t want to scare Tyler even more.

“I… Yeah. I spoke to some Contactees in… in m-mental institution,” Tyler coughs as he says so, and Josh’s suspicions jump back to that ‘what if Tyler is just a psycho’ stage.  

“But you were there as a visitor?” he asks warily.

“Yes, I was just a visitor. I was working on some statistics and tried to find people with similar issues,” Tyler replies, heaving out a sigh. “You know, those patients were just exhausted, lifeless, broken, only because they wanted to tell the world the truth about aliens’ experiments, but they ended up drugged with tons of pills and with a label ‘insane’ across the chest!” Tyler scratches the reddened skin behind his ear. “What if this is my fate, too?”

“And mine,” Josh responds, taking two bottles of water out of the portable fridge. 

“But you d-don’t have any implants in your neck!” Tyler shouts, covering his face with his palms; his shoulders are shaking, and Josh can hear his abnormally loud heartbeat. Then, Tyler _stops fucking breathing_ again; Josh hates this stupid habit more than anything else.

“Tyler, listen,” Josh sits next to him and hands him the bottle. “You have to calm down, it’s hard, I know, but you have to.”

Of course, Tyler doesn’t listen to him, clenching his teeth and stubbornly refusing to get some air into his lungs. Maybe, changing the topic will help. Josh would like to find a mirror, but he just glances at Tyler and supposes he looks pretty similar now — pale, with disheveled hair and with stains of caked blood on various places of his body.

“Do you have a bleach? For your t-shirt, I mean,” Josh pours some water onto the towel and starts cleaning his chest and chin.

Tyler slowly emerges out of his trance, looks down at himself and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, pressing a cold bottle to the bridge of his nose. “You’ve spent the night covered in my bloody snot. It was disgusting.”

“Nah, that’s not the worst,” Josh replies, hoping his intonation is optimistic. “But why couldn’t you just stop the nosebleed?”

“It wasn’t just a regular nosebleed,” Tyler finally peels his dirty t-shirt off and throws it onto the floor. “Jesus, I thought we were going to die.”

Josh still thinks so. He drinks the water and feels a little less hangover-y, and he realizes the embarrassment of the fact that he’s still wearing nothing but his boxers. But it seems like Tyler doesn’t care — he sits there half-naked, with a wet cloth on his face, and when Josh throws his pants and hoodie at him, Tyler doesn’t even pay much attention. He blinks perplexedly and wipes the leftover of crimson from underneath his nose.

“Are you with me?” Josh keeps bothering him, because Tyler’s odd apathy can overtake him any second.

“Yeah. I have to understand what that thing in my neck means,” Tyler says, pulling his hoodie on.

“Any ideas?” Josh asks, searching for his shorts under the bunk.

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“Nothing good,” Tyler shrugs.

“Worth a try,” Josh says soothingly, and Tyler just smirks in response.

Later, Josh gets the expectable surge of fury, because Tyler checks the results of his 24/7 observation and finds out that his computer system was almost blocked last night. He’s got only some low-quality audio-recordings, white noises and literally no pictures.

Tyler is mad. He hurls the papers and books off the table, kicks it hard and slams his fist against the wall, almost ripping the newspaper clippings; unable to watch this, Josh catches Tyler and wrings his hands behind his back only to stop his friend from trashing the laboratory.

“I was so close, so close, Josh!” Tyler screams, shuddering almost convulsively.

“Next time we’ll get closer,” Josh points out, tightening his grip.

“No. And don’t squeeze me,” Tyler whines.

“Promise me you’re not going to hurt yourself.”

“What?!”

“Tyler. Promise,” Josh insists. He’s sick of Tyler’s frequent mood swings.

“Fine,” Tyler rolls his eyes. “I promise.”

As soon as they get a little calmer, Tyler grabs his laptop and offers Josh to read some local articles; Josh just laughs at this, because the headlines are frankly hilarious or obviously stupid, let alone pictures. The internet is blown up with the gossips about the last night UFO incident, and a huge amount of fake evidences is leaking from every website.

**‘Flying saucer landed in the southern part of the forest’**

**‘UFOs are sent by the devil’**

**‘70-YEARS OLD FARMER CLAIMS HE HAD FANTASTIC SEX WITH ALIEN’**

“Someone had fun last night,” Tyler mutters, scrolling the page down. “Look, this dude has just taken a picture of a flashlight in the dark and said it was the _lightning in the sky_.”

“But this one,” Josh points at the picture below. “This looks like the real UFO, but the quality is shitty.”

“Yeah, this looks pretty real,” Tyler agrees. “Citizens could see the light or hear the faint sound, but honestly, I think we were the only one who’s seen the spaceship that close.”

“An old lady says that something destroyed her flowers in the garden,” Josh sighs dramatically.

Tyler facepalms.

“She just wants to be famous. But that man with his ‘cosmic orgasm’ deserves the prize. Do you think it’s even possible to reach the orgasm with an  _alien_?” he asks suddenly.

“I dunno... I don’t actually think about sex when my blood is gushing out of my nose,” Josh frowns; he still can taste it in his mouth.

“That’s normal, man,” Tyler chuckles bitterly.

All the articles are only based off of the real facts; they find more unbelievable interviews, pictures and videos — come on, it wasn’t just a flash in the sky, but none of the witnesses could catch the spaceship on camera. Josh just hopes that the light wasn’t radioactive; they were just showered in it, and now Josh can’t get rid of the tiny pins under his itchy skin. Tyler keeps scratching his neck musingly.

“Do you think that being under the UFO light threatens us to get cancer or something like that?” Josh vaguely remembers the _real_ aftermath of some Contacts.

“Let’s just hope we’re lucky,” Tyler replies without a hint of confidence in his voice.

Yes, he is definitely not a professional.  

 

***

Things officially go downhill once Josh faints at his workplace. It’s the third day after the UFO appearance, and it just happens. The last thing Josh remembers is standing at Mr. Hurley’s front porch and talking about a technical specification of a toaster; then everything suddenly goes dark.

Too dark.

“Mister… Josh?” a voice calls, and Josh feels a calloused hand touching his cheek.

People remember him only by the nametag on his jacket.

“Uh, ‘m okay,” Josh mutters, rolling onto his back; his brain is a squishy mess. “Sorry.”

 _Great job, Josh_. Apologizing for every step is Tyler’s habit, actually.

The sun is too bright and annoying; Josh cracks his heavy eyelids open and sees Mr. Hurley crouched down next to him. Fortunately, Josh fell on the grass and hasn’t hit the back of his head against something hard like that stupid garden gnome.

“Do you need something? Water?” Mr. Hurley asks worriedly, helping him sit up.

“Yeah… Water would be nice,” Josh forces himself for a weak smile, fighting with a pounding pain in his head. 

“One second,” Mr. Hurley gets up and disappears in the house.

Josh is waiting silently, leaning his sweaty back against the wooden railings and rubbing his forehead with his trembling hands. Minute later, Mr. Hurley brings him a full glass of water, still eyeing him concernedly. Josh gulps a cold liquid down and tries to stand up, but the ground underneath him sways sideways like a ship deck. Thank God, it’s his last address for today.

“It’s just very hot,” Josh says, gripping the railings and blinking away the blur. Apparently, skipping the lunch wasn’t a good idea.

“Have you ever felt like this before?” Mr. Hurley scratches his beard.

“No, I’m…” Josh pauses. He’d only fainted once, when he was fourteen or so, but there’s no need to talk about this now. “Never.”

He’d like to ask what Mr. Hurley thinks about the Famous UFO Incident, but this tattooed man doesn’t look like a person who believes the gossips coming from some questionable newspapers and websites.

Pushing away the dizziness, Josh drives back home on autopilot, climbs onto his bed and dozes off for a good forty minutes; then, he grabs his cellphone and sends Tyler the message.

_‘Sorry, I can’t drive today’_

He gets the reply immediately.

_‘are you drunk?’_

Josh types the reply with a little smirk.

_‘No, I passed out at work. Not feeling good’_

His phone buzzes again.

_‘shit.’_

Indeed, Josh thinks, answering the message.

_‘How are you?’_

_‘i’m fine. be careful.’_

_‘Yep. See you tomorrow’_

_‘ok.’_

 

***

The weather changes with the speed of Tyler’s mood. The raindrops dribble from Josh’s hair, turning it into a wet mess of pink curls; he thinks he has to re-fresh the faded color or pick something new — scratch that — Tyler likes his red hair. So, Josh takes a mental note to buy a new pack of bright red hair-dye on the way home.

“Hey, Tyler, I brought some food for us!” Josh exclaims, knocking on the trailer’s window.

When Tyler finally appears and lets Josh in, Josh notices his sick look: dark circles under Tyler’s eyes say he hasn’t slept this night. Carefully, Josh places the boxes with pizza onto the table; Tyler just winces in disgust and turns away.

“What’s wrong?” Josh asks confusedly.

“Not hungry.”

“Why?”

Tyler glares at him.

“Because. I threw up this morning,” he mutters darkly.

Josh’s dreams of a romantic dinner shatter to pieces.

“That sucks,” he sighs sympathetically, setting the boxes aside. The smell of pizza will only upset Tyler’s stomach more.

“I think this was related to the thing in my neck,” Tyler explains, touching the long red scratches behind his left ear. “I don’t know. Maybe I had too many energy drinks in my empty stomach, maybe I was just nervous. Anyway, I found myself puking my guts out into the bushes, sorry, these details weren’t necessary.”

Josh tousles his wet hair with both hands just to distract himself from the desire to hug Tyler — he just feels it’s not the right time.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Tyler replies indifferently. “What about your faint?”

“I was out only for a minute or so,” Josh shrugs. He’d been feeling woozy all night afterwards, though.

Tyler just nods in response, ignoring Josh’s attempts to continue the conversation; Josh can’t keep calm when Tyler has the weirdest implant ever, he’s sick, and both of them don’t know where it leads to.

Josh is terrified, but he just can’t show it _now._

They don’t talk all the next hour; Tyler sits on the floor in the opposite corner of the trailer, writing something in a thick notebook.

Unable to conceal his sadness, Josh takes a dog-eared book from the shelf — _‘a detective, what are you reading, Tyler?’_ — and flops down onto the bunk. Tyler is building an invisible wall between them, but Josh has to accept it, and also, these detective-stories are quite interesting. Josh doesn’t even hear Tyler’s footsteps — he always moves soundlessly like a shadow, and Josh’s heart drops when Tyler snatches the book and throws it across the room.

“So. Are you going to tell me about your Experience?” Tyler inquires, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? Seriously, Josh, I’m telling you about fucking everything, and you can’t even share one little secret with me?”

“Dude, I… I don’t understand,” Josh defends himself, getting up and travelling away from Tyler’s unreasonable anger. 

A kettle is boiling and whistling; Josh didn’t even notice when Tyler turned it on. Fucking ninja.

“Of course, you don’t. You don’t want to talk about it, fine. Do you think I’m stupid?” Tyler’s voice grows louder as he rolls up his sleeve, showing Josh the signs tattooed on his arm. “It’s not just a whimsy of some non-existent _green men_ , this is the _indicator,_ I’m getting this shit when I meet the true Contactee, got it?” Tyler screams, poking at the ‘ii’ symbol. “That Incident in the wood wasn’t your first Contact!”

“Shit, Tyler, I don’t remember anything like that, okay?!”

Jesus, that UFO has totally fucked up his brain. Josh is just sure that he’d never seen any paranormal shit before meeting Tyler, but why does Tyler blame him now?! He doesn’t want to start a fight, he just needs to drink some coffee, coffee always helps whenever Josh is nervous. Tyler hates coffee, though.

“I thought you were my friend,” Tyler spits out, waving his arms and accidentally hitting Josh’s wrist as he takes the kettle.

“I am, and I don’t deny any… Shit!” some still boiling water splashes out, straight onto the back of Josh’s right hand instead of the mug he was aiming for.

Josh panics, almost dropping a hot kettle onto his foot but putting it down onto the table successfully. His hand is glossily-red and a bit blistered, it burns and stings; Tyler tries to look at the injury, and for the first time Josh literally pushes him away.

Tyler sways but holds himself upright.

“Come on, let me,” his rage promptly fades. “I can help.”

All Josh wants is a cold compress over the scald.

“It’s going to scar…” he mumbles, staring at the broken skin. Both of them have their _marks._

“Josh. Come on, I can fix it,” Tyler’s voice softens.

Hesitantly, Josh reaches his hand out so Tyler can inspect the sore spot.

Wordlessly, Tyler squeezes Josh’s palm with both his hands so hard his fingers go numb; the next moment Josh starts to feel strong strings of energy coming from Tyler, running from his fingertips and soaking through his busted skin. They exchange puzzled glances; Tyler licks his lips, his body tenses as he lets more of his power out, directing it straight to the scald.

The pain turns to a nagging itchiness and then just stops bothering Josh.

“This,” Tyler removes his hands from Josh’s injury and wipes them on his pants.

There’s only a small pink smear near Josh’s thumb, without blisters or sickening redness. Josh pinches the healed skin; it feels just wet, a little too warm but not hot.

“I thought this thing only works on you… Hey, dude stay with me,” Josh grabs Tyler by the shoulders as he sways again.

Josh is not good at dealing with an unconscious Tyler.

“You can call it a superpower,” Tyler smiles exhaustedly. “When I get hurt, it just heals by itself, I don’t even notice it. But it’s much harder with the other people, it takes too much strength. It’s my third experience of doing this, sorry, I’m not actually a fan of healing the wounds.”

“Sorry?! Dude, it’s like the greatest thing ever happened to me, not that burn, I mean, but you are- just. Thank you,” Josh can’t stop the stream of his mind, there are too many mysteries, and he’s shocked — he doesn’t remember anything resembling the Contact from his past. Definitely, he has to dig deeper.

“You are my friend. My best friend, Josh. Just don’t listen to me when I say that you’re not,” Tyler sighs. “I can’t control myself sometimes. Let’s go outside, I’m suffocating here.”

“Me too,” Josh agrees, guiding Tyler to the trailer’s door.

It’s still raining. The drops of water hit Josh’s face and cool his overheated skin, washing away his anxiety and fear. Bit by bit, Tyler gets back to his normal, friendly state and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and clenching his fists — Josh memorizes these details, he wants to read Tyler by his every gesture, but this guy is just a walking charade. So is Josh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two contactees are better than one contactee woohoo


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh opens his mouth to say that Tyler is a Person with a capital P and the coolest dude ever, but Tyler cuts him off, thumping his upper arm in excitement.
> 
> “Parents! Josh, you’re genius, _parents!_ You have to talk to your parents, they definitely know about all the paranormal things ever happened to you,” Tyler exclaims happily, leaning to Josh and suddenly kissing his cheek.
> 
> _Oops._

The scratches on Tyler’s neck don’t heal, and there’s nothing good about it. Tyler struggles to go get some help in the town, so Josh just grabs the first-aid kit from where Tyler hides it in the darkest corner of the trailer, intending to clean the skin behind Tyler’s ear no matter what. He pushes Tyler down into the bunk and takes the bottle with disinfectant.

“Josh, it won’t work, I swear I did it earlier,” Tyler whimpers discontentedly as Josh pours the disinfectant onto the cottonwool and clamps it over the scrapes.

“It’s because you’re touching them all the time,” Josh makes Tyler bow his head to check the damage; three long cuts from Tyler’s fingernails, still fresh, like thin worms tangling right over a bit swollen spot.

“I don’t know why my ability is useless there,” Tyler sighs. “Fast healing is great, especially when I cut myself during the shaving.”

“Come on dude, you haven’t shaved for several days,” Josh points out, working with the cottonwool carefully, not to press on the implant too hard.

What if this thing is killing Tyler right now?

“Yeah, I kind of forgot,” Tyler shrugs, shuddering as the trickle of disinfectant runs down, soaking through the collar of his shirt. Tyler reaches his hand to the scratches again, and Josh slaps his wrist.

“Stop injuring yourself,” Josh orders. The fact of living in the forest and having a good chance to get an infection makes Josh feel sick.

“This shit feels like a hot bug under my skin,” Tyler utters, rubbing his palms. “Like it’s alive, you know?”

“Nice description.”

They definitely have to get rid of the implant. Josh can’t just let some crap from Space torture his _best_ friend, and he begins to think about the surgery and about potential risks; will taking the implant out be even more dangerous than leaving it rot in Tyler’s neck?

What if moving the thing will activate a self-destruct mechanism?

Tyler groans desperately and leans his shoulder against the wall, waiting until Josh finishes cleaning the inflamed scrapes.

 

***

The next few days Josh keeps cleaning the scratches every evening after work, he can’t think about anything else — all he has in his head is _TylerTylerTyler._

Maybe, he has to take a vacation.

Tyler is definitely not okay no matter how hard he tries to mask it — he doesn’t talk much, doesn’t smile, and if he does, it looks like a grimace of pain. He just buries himself into a pile of web-articles and old newspapers, comparing the facts, trying to catch the Signal or deciphering the collection of his recordings.

But for Josh’s happiness, Tyler takes the shower in a tiny trailer’s bathroom and shaves his chin and cheeks. He doesn’t sleep at nights, staring at the black starless sky, and Josh’s heart almost jumps out of his chest when he wakes up and sees Tyler’s lanky figure in the forest at 3 am.

Josh thinks of Slenderman again.

Tuning up the satellite antenna, Tyler nearly falls from the top of the travel trailer, and Josh apprehensively offers him to take a break. He’s done with all this shit, and if Tyler needs a medical supervision he should get it, right? Tyler just shakes his head, connecting the headphones to the radio and hiding from Josh in the corner of his lab; he sits like this all day, autistic-like, with glassy eyes, silent in the creepiest way.

Josh doesn’t know what he’s doing here. 

It would have been much better if Tyler had spilled out all of his fears, and Josh is ready for it, but nothing happens.

The rhythm of a beeping sound changes; it becomes more sharp and anxious, it makes Josh depressive and angry, and Tyler’s melancholy progresses. Tyler mutters something about the Messages and about the Mission, but he doesn’t explain anything when Josh starts asking him.

Once in the evening, Tyler says he will never get close to solving the mystery he’s obsessed with. Josh thinks it’s his fault.

They’re sprawled on the grass outside the trailer, and it seems that everything is alright. Almost. Grey clouds cover the stars on the sky, and it makes Tyler sad; Josh misses the gleaming of Tyler’s patterns.

“I don’t remember my Contact,” Josh repeats for the umpteenth time.

“I believe you,” Tyler nods, and his next question makes Josh feel ashamed. “Why haven’t you asked me about my past?”

Tyler doesn’t look like a guy who likes to talk about his past life, and that’s the reason. Josh is not the one who likes to turn one’s soul inside out, that’s another reason. Curiosity is a kind of psychological violence.

“I was afraid to hear ‘fuck off, Josh’ in reply,” Josh smirks bitterly.

Tyler chuckles.

“I don’t say things like this! Not too often, at least,” he pulls his knees to his chest. “And I kinda- I don’t know who I am.”

It sounds like a typical confession of a person who’s having problems finding their place in the world, and Josh decides to take it like a detail of Tyler’s nature.

“What do you mean?”

They’ve spent a lot of time together, but they have only been talking about current news and issues, occasionally chatting about music and movies — but they have never discussed something like ‘little Tyler and his imaginary friends’ or ‘teenage Tyler and his first love’. So, Josh just thought those topics weren’t interesting and important and kept his mouth shut.

He wasn’t so proud of ‘teenage Josh’ either. 

“I remember only like four years of my life,” Tyler says; the grass rustles a little as he moves closer to Josh. “I woke up lying on the street with my head bleeding, and all I had in my brain was _‘Tyler Joseph, eighteen’_.”

Something inside of Josh dies.

“What?! How could that happen?” Josh shivers at his own intonation.

Josh isn’t sure if he can find the right words to describe an avalanche of feelings; it’s a mix of pain and pity and guilt. Tyler was so _young_ and so _brave,_ and just being silent for such a long time could have made him mentally instable _._

“I don’t want to tell you everything, is this okay?” Tyler reaches for his injured neck again but drops his hand onto his lap under Josh’s heavy gaze.

Josh gulps nervously, waiting for Tyler to continue.

“Good. My head healed in a few hours, that scared me shitless though. I’d been living on the street for a week, but then I met that girl,” Tyler’s voice fills up with warm nostalgic notes. “Jenna was a great friend; she helped me deal with the most unpleasant part of my life. Once I fully recovered, I got a job in the auto-repair service and started getting used to this routine. I didn’t think that my love for Space was something extraordinary- I’d just read some articles and watched videos. It was like a magnet for me. One year later, I joined a group of people, they were claiming that they’d seen the UFO the day I first woke up.”

“Oh man…” Josh finds himself holding Tyler’s hand. “Your life was harder than I thought.”

“I got my first marks after that meeting,” Tyler throws the next metaphorical punch. “When it happened again, I thought that was dangerous, and I couldn’t explain those things to Jenna, so I bought this old trailer and kind of… drove away. Yeah, I am a coward, but Jenna still sends me emails, and I respond to them sometimes.”  

Josh takes the information boldly. Tyler’s sudden amnesia, his superpowers and a pissed-off girl somewhere off the screen. Incredible.

“And what about a mental institution?”

“Oh, it was the next step,” Tyler frowns, pointing at the symbols on his right forearm. “Getting these marks was probably the worst experience ever.”

“How did you understand that those marks were related to Contactees?” Josh thinks his curiosity isn’t that violent.

“There were months of observation and my intuition,” Tyler replies with unconcealed pride. “But I got fired because of that. Though, I recorded some real sounds from the Space and sold them on the online auction.”

But Josh still can’t get one the most important thing.

“And what if somebody’s trying to find you? Your parents, siblings or… your girlfriend?”

“No, no,” Tyler shakes his head hastily. “I couldn’t even find any info about myself over the Internet, about being a missing person or something like that, you know, I’m just nobody.”

Josh opens his mouth to say that Tyler is a Person with a capital P and the coolest dude ever, but Tyler cuts him off, thumping his upper arm in excitement.

“Parents! Josh, you’re genius, _parents!_  You have to talk to your parents, they definitely know about all the paranormal things ever happened to you,” Tyler exclaims happily, leaning to Josh and suddenly kissing his cheek.

_Oops._

At first, Josh blushes. Then, his pants get a bit tighter for some obvious reason. Then, Tyler crawls away from him.

“So…” Josh starts, ruffling his bright-red hair; he dyed it today morning, but this definitely _wasn’t_ an attempt to cheer Tyler up.

“Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Tyler mumbles, wiping his lips on the sleeve of his hoodie. “I didn’t mean…”

Josh forces himself to move, pushing himself at Tyler’s side; he sits on the grass awkwardly and turns away as Josh wraps his arm around Tyler’s shoulders.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, I’m cool with it,” Josh whispers, placing his free hand onto Tyler’s chest and feeling the drum-solo of his heartbeat under his fingertips.

The stars pop up through the clouds, it seems like the trees get taller, almost touching the dark sky; the hooting of owls comes somewhere from above. Very romantic. 

Suddenly, Tyler goes limp in Josh’s hands, his head tilts forward involuntarily; for a second, Josh loses himself in fright, but he carefully lays Tyler on his back on the ground. Josh presses his palm to Tyler’s forehead, checking him for a fever — his skin is slick with sweat but unhealthily cold. Josh gets another minute of I’m-so-close-to-a-nervous-breakdown, but Tyler’s lips twitch as he opens his eyes, dazed.

“What happened?” he asks groggily.

“How the hell should I know?! I’m sorry if I made you scared or nervous, shit, Tyler, I’m fucking worried!” Josh blurts out, barely managing to say something coherent.

He curses himself for suspecting that Tyler has just faked his illness to avoid making out.

“I feel kinda sick,” Tyler hiccups, squeezing his eyes shut and rolling onto his side. “Can you help me make it to the bed?”

“Uh, of course,” Josh bustles around, helping Tyler get up and guiding him back to the trailer.

He feels twice worse for his suspiciousness, because Tyler’s knees buckle for real, and he falls down onto the mattress with a pained moan. Josh isn’t sure how he’s going to leave Tyler alone here while visiting his parents in the neighboring town.

“Hey man,” Josh slaps Tyler’s thigh slightly, getting only a sleepy grunt in response. “Good night,” he sighs.

“Night Josh,” Tyler mutters distractedly.

Josh knows he won’t be able to fall asleep tonight, so his plan for the night is listen to Tyler’s light snoring.

 

***

Josh hates family dinners.

He loves his parents, his brother and sisters, but family dinners aren’t included in the list of Josh’s most favorite things.

Tyler promised to send him messages every hour, because Josh’s nervousness almost crossed the line; surprisingly, Tyler’s mood was pretty good all the morning while Josh was getting ready for work. When he tripped over and accidentally pushed the radio off the table, Tyler wasn’t mad or upset, he just convinced Josh not to worry. It was strange.

Now, Josh feels uncomfortable in the house he grew up in, it seems too big compared to his small rental apartment, and this delicious food just gets stuck half-way down to his stomach. His family doesn’t notice — they keep talking about their lives, about how cool his sisters’ boyfriends are, about his brother’s scholarship, and about his private life, private life, private life…

Josh takes a sip of water and chokes on it, almost coughing it all back up.

He wishes he could be invisible, because five pairs of eyes stare at him now, as if they want to burn him down along with the chair he sits on.

“Do your ears still hurt?” his mother asks, setting away the fork.

“No, not anymore.”

Josh grabs at his earlobe automatically. He isn’t going to keep stretching these ear tunnels; his parents can be calm about this. Josh doesn’t look like the rest of Duns’, but being not like them wasn’t Josh’s goal, actually. But his otherness is noticeable anyway.

That’s why Josh hates family dinners — questions, questions, questions. He looks at the clock — it’s 10 pm, too early to go to sleep.

Josh wants to talk about the UFO incidents and aliens and Contacts, but he knows his parents hate these conversations as much as Josh hates boring evenings like this one.

They just don’t believe.

The next few hours they’re playing board games and watching one too colorful TV-show with a hammy show-host.

It’s like Josh is a six-year-old again, and he can just hide under the covers to protect himself from the Monster that lives in his closet and tries to bite off Josh’s leg every night. He smiles at these memories as he enters _his_ room; it’s been four months since Josh’s last visit. It’s funny, but Josh’s parents didn’t remove the shelf with transformer toys he and his brother liked in their childhood.

Josh’s phone buzzes; he snatches it out of his pocket and grins widely, reading Tyler’s short message.

_‘good night?’_

_‘Good night!’_ Josh sends back, heading to the bed.

Bedsheets are cold; Josh curls up into a ball under the blanket to warm himself up and eventually falls asleep. He doesn’t usually pay attention on his dreams, but this one is absolutely different; it’s like an old movie, and Josh has a free ticket to the first row.

Josh sees himself.

Josh is thirteen, and he’s wandering around the backyard, kicking a soccer ball; the older Josh almost smirks at the fact how small and awkward he was.

The sky is pretty dark, and the autumn air is pretty cold, and little Josh sniffs, rubbing his shoulders with his palms. He kicks the ball again, it rolls to the fence, and a little Josh rushes to catch it, but stumbles on his shoelace and falls onto the grass.

“Fuck!” a little Josh groans, promptly slapping his lips for saying a bad word.

Twenty-three-years-old Josh can’t help but laughs.

A little Josh sighs and gets up, dusting off his jeans, and all of it looks so natural that Josh almost relaxes — he knows it’s only a dream anyway.

But his dream turns into a literal nightmare, because he hears the sound — all of the sudden — that awful, shrilling sound from the sky that almost makes him bend over and cover his ears. But Josh doesn’t take a full-blown hit, because all the force of it crashes down to his younger self — the avalanche of light, it pours all over the little Josh, catching him into the aureole of a crystal-white gleaming.

Josh squints his eyes, he wants to scream ‘RUN’, but his tongue is swollen, and he can’t even open his mouth. He isn’t sure if he’s still breathing.

It lasts maybe a minute or so.  

Josh is angry, he craves to move and fight the light, turn it off to stop torturing the boy, but he can’t change this badly written scenario, he can’t, he can’t, he’s just a guest here. The light keeps shooting through the little Josh, nearly lifting him off the ground and then just pushing him backwards like a broken doll. The light is gone.

At the same time Josh realizes that he can control his limbs again; he crouches down next to a younger version of himself, seeing clearly the boy’s pale face, his tear-stained cheeks and a bloody nose. 

“You’re gonna be okay,” Josh whispers, hearing a light whimper coming from the little Contactee. Josh can’t accept it’s him.

His emotions are blocked. Josh thinks he has to go and find help for this kid, for himself, but then there is a loud smack of the door opening, the backyard lights up once again, but now it’s the lightbulb hanging above the back door of Duns house.

“Josh, honey, what happened, Josh, can you hear me?!” his mother screams as she makes a dash at Josh’s side.

Josh’s father runs after her.

They haven’t seen the light.

Josh’s father just picks up his unconscious son off the ground and carries him into the house, his hand swings lifelessly in the air as they run upstairs. Josh’s mother is sobbing.

A soccer ball is still lying near the fence, abandoned.

Josh wakes up with his head pounding, and his back is aching from hitting the floor too hard; his t-shirt and boxers stick to his sweaty body, the ceiling is spinning, and Josh can’t understand what’s going on. His chest hurts, and his eyes burn, and breathing is something Josh can’t afford right now.

He has to call Tyler.

Tyler knows the answer.

Unable to get up from the parquet, Josh takes his phone from underneath the pillow; he doesn’t care that it’s 2:42 am, and Tyler is probably sleeping — come on, Tyler is an insomniac — and scrolls through the contacts.

The ringing in Josh’s ears gets louder.

Tyler doesn’t pick up his phone.

Josh keeps calling; once, twice, three times, five, ten — no result. He tries to convince himself that Tyler is really sleeping, because it’s the middle of the night, and all the normal people… Come on, Tyler is not normal.

Shit.

“Shit,” Josh hisses, dragging his body up and climbing onto the bed again. “I swear I’m gonna kick your ass, Ty.”

Tyler, apparently, doesn’t care, because he keeps ignoring Josh.

Shit.

Josh feels like he’s been blind all these ten years from his Contact to present days, and the Truth is weighing him down.

Now Josh understands.

That’s why he’d been taking those pills, talking to a child psychologist twice a week, that’s why his teenage years were quite awkward, and that’s why his parents were always nervous about him.

At the age of fourteen, Josh drew his family as aliens — typical green men — and his Dad asked him to never draw that again.

They didn’t want Josh to remember his Contact, because UFOs and aliens don’t exist in real world. Josh’s incident at the backyard was just a dream. The child psychologist instilled that thought into Josh’s mind, but the wall inside of Josh’s brain couldn’t be unbreakable. Regressive hypnosis, fake memories — as you want.

This trick is not working now.

Josh sits on the bed, feeling something he can’t put into words — adrenaline, energy, power, rage, all at once — like he’s in the epicenter of a hurricane, or _he_ is that hurricane, and he can touch the dense air surrounding him as he moves his hand.

Josh’s old skateboard wheels out of the corner of the dark room. Startled, Josh waves his hand again, and the skateboard crosses the room, stopping near Josh’s bed.

Josh makes a gesture like he’s pushing the skate away, and it _obeys_.

Josh thinks he’s hallucinating due to sleep deprivation.

He likes this skate though. When Josh was sixteen, he fell off it onto the rock and broke his nose; Josh thinks it’s still noticeable — he has a bump on the bridge of his nose.

“Fuck off,” Josh mutters, cutting the air with his palm.

The skate rolls away cowardly. Josh tries to beckon it back, but the thing stays still; Josh tries again but fails.

This makes him feel calm.

“Okay,” Josh says confidently. “Telekinesis, good.”

 

***

He doesn’t know why he’s falling off the bed sometimes, but actually it works better than the alarm clock. This time, Josh manages to open his eyes before his head hits the floor for the second time this night.

He’s surprised that he fell asleep right after that telekinetic session with his good old skateboard; it has probably taken a lot of his energy — that’s what he knows from Tyler. Josh rolls over and grabs his cellphone, hoping to see a huge amount of missed calls from Tyler.

Seeing zero notifications makes Josh’s heart clench. It’s 5 am, and nothing changes.

Josh is exploding with the desire to talk to Tyler.

Josh takes his jeans and shoes on and walks out of his bedroom quietly; he doesn’t want to bother his family. Josh’s parents wanted a better life for their beloved son, but they _were drugging_ him, they were forbidding him to talk about something paranormal, and they were doing it well. But they can talk about it later.

Josh is a freak, and he just wants to leave this place. He crosses the living room on his tiptoes — his brother is sleeping on the couch — and sneaks out of the front door, wincing at the light creak it makes.

The gust of wind clears his heavy head instantly, and Josh runs to his car with such an uneasy feeling growing somewhere in his gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this happens  
> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler relaxes, falling back into Josh’s arms; his head bumps against Josh’s chest. Josh just pulls him into a gentle hug, nuzzling his hair and breathing in the odor of sweat and blood and RedBull and bile.
> 
> “I stink,” Tyler grumbles.
> 
> “You stink,” Josh agrees.

Checking his cellphone every five minutes, Josh drives the car with the speed of light; he rushes through the forest, hoping there’s no reason for being so anxious, and Tyler has just forgotten to charge his phone or he’s just busy.

 _‘Please, Tyler, hold on,’_ Josh begs mentally, stopping the car near the travel trailer and noticing immediately that the door isn’t locked.

It means Tyler is there.

Josh storms off the driver’s seat, stumbling and falling and hitting his knee in process. Maybe, Tyler will help him deal with that little bruise later.

Though, Josh forgets about the pain in his kneecap as soon as he gets inside the trailer and balances himself against the wall, looking around. He winces squeamishly at the nasty smell that hits his nostrils, and then his hand sticks into a cold substance smeared down the door — Josh looks down at his fingers — the vomit? Then he pays attention on the small red drops dotting the floor, and he prays silently that this blood isn’t Tyler’s.

He carefully moves forward, getting more and more scared, but his hammering heart goes numb as he sees the ripped wires hanging from the ceiling, smashed monitors and computer system unit; the newspaper clippings are torn off the wall, and now they are lying like small lifeless butterflies on the table and on the chair.

“Jesus,” Josh whispers, unable to tear his eyes away from this horrifying picture. _‘They attacked him. They attacked Tyler,’_ Josh repeats, walking across the trashed laboratory.

Everything is crumpled and broken and ugly; Josh flinches, shaking the puke off his fingers.

This is a disaster.

Somebody destroyed everything Tyler has been working on for years.

Josh falls into stupor that seems lasting for forever, but in real life it takes only a few seconds; he just stares at the shattered glass and the pieces of plastic and papers, feeling extremely lonely and broken and dumb. He steps onto the chunk of a mangled radio, and it cracks sonorously; everything is too loud without those beeping signals Josh hated at first. Like the trailer was alive all that time, if this makes sense. 

Josh definitely shouldn’t hear a meek ‘who’s there?’ from the side of Tyler’s bunk. Josh sprints towards a weak noise; there’s the pile of blankets and clothes draping the bed, and Josh just throws off all the stuff-

Tyler presses his face farther into the pillow, and Josh only sees the red wet spots staining the pillowcase.

“Shit,” Josh breathes out, his stomach churns at the sight of an injured skin behind Tyler’s ear — the scratches have turned into a bruised mess with thin black lines spreading all over his neck.

Like a black poison in Tyler’s veins.

“Go away,” Tyler whispers.

He shivers as the fever rises high, and Josh is obligated to say ‘I’m not going to leave you’, but Tyler fucking passes out _again_ , still suffering from that unremitting nosebleed.

The first thought is: take a kitchen knife, slash the skin and take that damned implant out. The second thought is: he can’t do it without Tyler’s agreement. He can’t just haul Tyler to the hospital either.

Josh snaps his fingers in front of Tyler’s nose, seeing his friend’s reddened eyelids flutter open.

“Good,” Josh mumbles contentedly, leaving Tyler on the bunk and walking into a kitchen section to find cold water. He only finds some water in the kettle though, but it’s quite cold. “Sorry,” Josh says, splashing the water all over Tyler’s head, wetting his ruined pillow and bed.

Surprisingly, it’s working.

Tyler huffs and coughs and rolls onto his side, giving Josh a relatively focused glance and covering his nose with both hands. Josh sets the kettle on the floor, kicking it under the bunk.

“You… W-what…” Tyler starts faintly, but Josh doesn’t let him continue, slapping him across his face, once, twice until Tyler catches his hand in attempts to stop him.

“Hey?” Josh thinks he slapped him too hard; Tyler presses his palm to his sore cheek.

Needless to say there’s the blood caked all over his fingernails.

“Josh,” Tyler mutters chokingly, wiping his face with the hem of his t-shirt and trying to sit up. “We have to take the implant out.”

It’s the official permission.

“Are you…” the words form a lump, blocking Josh’s vocal chords.

“I’m dying, Josh,” Tyler slumps backwards, the wall keeps him from falling. “I can’t fight anymore! This- this is the end, you know? I tried to ignore _their_ orders, their messages _‘kill them. Kill them all’_ over and over again, Josh, I thought if I’ll destroy the System I will get free, but I am not! I still have that order in my brain, I have to go and find Contactees and fucking kill them!” a heavy breathing is locked inside Tyler’s chest, and he just roars, covering his head with his hands. “I was going to start with you, with _you_ , Josh! I thought I could find the way out, but the only way out is death, I don’t wanna die!”

Tyler’s tirade ends up with a miserably wet sob, and he runs his fingers through his hair, almost pulling it out in his delirium.

Killing Contactees is the Mission Tyler was talking about.

Fuck.

Josh can’t stand seeing him this way defeated. He doesn’t care that he’s sitting next to his potential murderer. Tyler still has some sanity not to hurt him, and also he’s too weak and exhausted anyway.

“I won’t let you die,” Josh slides closer to Tyler, throwing his arm around Tyler’s shoulder. “Do you have something… sharp? And some forceps would be nice as well.”

“Yeah, I have a scalpel, look on the shelf,” Tyler rubs his eyes tiredly. “I’m dangerous for the world, I’m like the worst Contactee ever.”

“No, being the worst Contactee is my prerogative,” Josh replies, getting up and searching through the stuff on the shelf and finding a box with surgical instruments.

He doesn’t ask why Tyler has them.

He’s going to tell Tyler about his Contact as soon as he takes the implant out of his neck. An enthralling story from Josh’s childhood can wait.

Tyler speaks again.

“I was hitting the monitor until I hurt my knuckles, and my nose started bleeding,” Tyler throws his head back with a loud moan. “Then, I started kicking everything I could reach for, and then- I d-don’t remember what happened after, I remember only the desire to hide, to crawl away, to protect myself from my own thoughts.”

This actually breaks Josh’s heart; he checks the sharpness of the scalpel on his fingertip and turns to Tyler.

He hopes he won’t mess it up.

“Well. Are you ready?” Josh asks as he finishes preparing the instruments for the operation.

“Yes,” Tyler clenches his teeth, shifting on the bed and letting Josh sit down past him. “Wait, wait, have you ever done this before?”

“Are you kidding me?” Josh lets out a frustrated groan. “Of course not! So please don’t move, I don’t want to cut your ear off.”

Tyler just nervously laughs at this.

Okay, Josh used to clean Tyler’s injuries — he’s doing this again — but this time it’s gonna be a bit different procedure.

When Josh makes the first incision, he tries to think of it like of dissecting a frog (Josh cowardly skipped that class in school, though); but all of it ends much quicker than Josh expects — the implant isn’t placed too deep under the layer of skin, so Josh reaches for it after a couple manipulations. Tyler jumps up a little when Josh picks up the blood-stained implant with forceps and tugs it out, away from Tyler; it looks like a small microchip that lights up with a tiny blue flash before going black.

Josh really thinks he has just killed that thing. Probably, it was taking energy from Tyler while controlling him, taking over his brain and his thoughts.

A small bleeding stops promptly, as soon as Josh presses the cottonwool to it; apparently, Tyler is getting his strength back. Catching his breath, Josh lays the instruments on the mattress, calling himself the most highly-qualified surgeon.

He’s proud of himself even.

Tyler relaxes, falling back into Josh’s arms; his head bumps against Josh’s chest. Josh just pulls him into a gentle hug, nuzzling his hair and breathing in the odor of sweat and blood and RedBull and bile.

“I stink,” Tyler grumbles.

“You stink,” Josh agrees.

“I didn’t think I was going to be sick, honestly. And I just couldn’t make it out of the trailer in time,” Tyler sounds ashamed, tension fills up his muscles again.

“Hey, we can deal with it, especially when we solved the biggest problem,” Josh shushes, showing Tyler the microchip he’s still clutching in his hand.

“Ohgodjoshwhatthefuckisthis?!” Tyler blurts out, grabbing the microchip and staring at it loathingly. “Tell me that tapeworms are much worse.”

“They’re assholes, yeah,” Josh nods.

“Thank you.”

“Do you want to keep it?”

“I think I have to block the potential danger, so yes,” Tyler attempts to sit up, and Josh pushes him at his back, helping.

Certainly, Tyler regrets about what he’s done, anxiety leaks between his words, his gestures are slowed, and he’s way too careful; his glance is weirdly hollow as he looks around the trashed trailer and lets out an uneven sigh.

“I can move things,” Josh confesses. “But I can’t control it, and it fucks me up.”

Tyler shoves his sadness deeper into his soul and decides to talk.

“That one time when we had a fight, remember? You turned the kettle on without touching it. I noticed,” he utters, poking at the microchip on his palm abstractedly.

“Oh,” Josh thinks back of that rainy evening; he felt something, but couldn’t recognize what it was. The first manifestation of his telekinesis, probably. “I was thirteen, when, you know, the Contact happened. And my parents kinda decided to brainwash me. With therapy and stuff.”

Tyler nods and breathes out through his clenched teeth, fighting with anger; he’s the most active Contactees’ supporter in Josh opinion.

Tyler would prefer to die rather hurt anyone of them.

“Sorry to hear that, your parents’ decision was awful. But you’ve got your powers, right?” there are the sparkles of life in Tyler’s tired eyes again as he looks at Josh. “It’s like, you were struggling with them, but now you can’t just close the gates, so you have to teach yourself control it?”

Tyler gets distracted by the noise from the woods and turns away for a moment; Josh notices that the cut behind his ear and his scratches start to shrink, and those black lines on his neck look much paler now.

“Powers are cool, but I’m like, living a normal life?” Josh says hesitantly before admitting that the description of his life is so far from ‘normal’ now.

“I wish I could live a normal life,” Tyler sighs enviously, shoving the microchip into the front pocket of his jeans. “But I’m not sure if I’m free.”

“Man, sitting in the forest with a satellite antenna over your head only makes you more noticeable for the spies from Space,” Josh almost giggles, but the sight of a scalpel on the mattress makes everything more dramatic.

Tyler sighs again.

“The antennas are broken. Everything is broken,” Tyler responds, staring at his still badly bruised knuckles. “But I can fix some of it.”

Not _everything_ is smashed — the telescope is still standing near the trailer’s window, untouched and too foreign in the destroyed lab. Like a tiny island of peace in the ocean of chaos.

“No, that’s enough dude. You’ve got marks, aliens kidnapped you, maybe let’s just stop this shit?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yes, Tyler, you know what I mean. You can live with me,” Josh’s voice almost cracks as he says so. “My landlord is a cool dude, so don’t worry. Pack your stuff and let’s go.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why don’t you believe me? I’m not going to harass you, don’t be afraid,” Josh assures; for fuck’s sake, he knows Tyler for long enough to offer him to live together.

But he doesn’t know what goes inside Tyler’s eccentric mind.

“I’m not afraid of harassments,” Tyler huffs resentfully.

 

***  

All the next day they spend cleaning the trailer and packing Tyler’s things into bags and boxes; Josh thinks that Tyler wants to say goodbye to every tree in the wood, but he leaves his jokes to himself. He just wants to take Tyler away from his dangerous hobby that includes getting almost murdered — Josh can understand his own parents’ motives even.

Now, Josh doesn’t know how to talk to his Mom and Dad; how to explain that he remembers everything, and how to make them believe him? Telekinesis will definitely scare his family, besides, Josh has no clue how this thing works, and what if he has his own Mission? 

These thoughts hurt Josh’s brain, so he focuses on helping Tyler shove his clothes into a too-small backpack. Tyler keeps the microchip in an empty bottle of vitamins, and Josh thinks they’re already prepared for everything.

“Can’t believe I’m gonna quit,” Tyler says, throwing the strap of a backpack over his shoulder.

“You’re just gonna change the location,” Josh corrects him.

Josh is excited about living with Tyler.

 

***

Tyler wants to sell the trailer, he’s just searching for a good buyer because he isn’t going to sell his house on wheels to a creep. It’s parked near the apartment building along with Josh’s car, and Josh’s neighbors give him weird looks.

Josh ignores them.

The very first evening in Josh’s apartment is awkward; after the shower Tyler is wearing Josh’s loose t-shirt, sweatpants and red socks he found somewhere in the drawer, and Josh feels like it’s his new favorite style.

“What?” Tyler asks timidly, clutching the hem of his t-shirt.

“You look good,” Josh admits. Honestly, he still can’t believe he convinced Tyler to move into his place, and he can’t lie to himself — he’s incredibly happy about it.

Tyler looks so fresh and young, his dark hair is still wet, and Josh just can’t stop staring at him.

Finally, he can be closer to Tyler, finally he can learn his habits and the meaning of his nervous gestures, because Tyler is _real_ , and Josh has saved his life; the skin behind Tyler’s ear and on his neck is just fine. No scratches, no lines, just a normal skin covered with the layers of tan.

“I didn’t know your nose was pierced,” Tyler says, crossing the bedroom and sitting down onto the twin-size bed beside Josh. “I like it.”

“Yeah, I pierced it when I was fifteen or so, my parents were mad, so I had to take it out for a while,” Josh laughs, touching a silver ring in his left nostril. “But I kept wearing this thing while they weren’t watching.”

Tyler smirks, glancing down at his red socks. Red socks are Josh’s obsession since now. Josh hopes Tyler isn’t going to find his own apartment after selling the trailer; he almost crosses his fingers for luck.

“Show me what you can do, Josh,” Tyler places his hand on Josh’s knee, and Josh thinks for a second that he’s going to tug his shorts off.

“What can I do?” Josh asks perplexedly.

“Your superpower,” Tyler rolls his eyes. “Josh, what are you thinking about?!”

“I’m just…” Josh stutters as Tyler slides off the bed and yanks at his arm.

“Come on, get up and focus,” Tyler almost orders, clapping his palms to draw Josh’s attention. “Just move something!”

Josh doesn’t feel like moving things. Josh is aroused. Anyway, he stands up in front of Tyler and focuses very hard, closing his eyes; he clenches his fists and grits his teeth, but something goes wrong.

“Come ooon, Josh, you can,” Tyler encourages.

Josh concentrates on his steady breathing and heartbeat, calling for his telekinetic powers.

“Focus,” Tyler’s voice is a whisper or Josh is half-deaf from the familiar ringing in his ears.

He can do this. He breathes out loudly and imagines that he’s creating a thick invisible dome all around himself, he can control the air, and his nerve endings are hypersensitive — Josh feels every millimeter of the atmosphere with his fingertips.

“Josh, do it.”

His palms are on fire.

Josh blinks and shakes his hand just to cool it a bit; his jaw drops in shock when the reading-lamp storms off the bedside table and flies straight at Tyler. Fortunately, Tyler dodges it, and the lamp slams into the wall above Tyler’s shoulder, ricochets off the wall and falls on the floor without causing any harm to the interior.

“I liked that lamp,” Josh winces. It’s probably broken now.

“Yeah, it didn’t hit my head, nice lamp,” Tyler agrees, smiling sourly.

With his hand, Josh blankly repeats the trajectory of the lamp’s flight. It’s just one fast _innocent_ movement, but it’s enough to lift Tyler up and throw him across the bedroom; Tyler manages to croak out only one ‘fuck’ before his back hits the wardrobe.

Then, of course, he falls.

“Shit,” Josh rushes to him; he pictures terrible scenes with twisted body parts, but Tyler just laughs quietly, lying on the floor beside the bed. “Are you okay?!”

“Yes. That was tough,” Tyler chuckles again, reaching his hand out, but Josh hesitates to take it. “Did it look like a superhero movie?”

“No, mostly like those awkward-falling videos from the YouTube,” Josh replies, copying Tyler’s sour smile.

“You’re a villain, Josh. I’m trying to be optimistic,” Tyler groans; Josh isn’t sure if the burst of his power is over, he doesn’t want to hurt Tyler.

But honestly, he’s glad he’s training with Tyler; it’s just great that his friend isn’t mad at him even though he’s getting bruises all over his body. Some random guy would’ve just ran away.

“Let’s continue this tomorrow?” Tyler offers, pushing himself up off the floor and flopping down onto Josh’s bed. “I’m tired.”

Josh is tired, too; he might fall asleep just standing like this, so he quickly jumps onto the mattress and lies down next to Tyler.

“Is this okay?” Tyler asks, looking at the ceiling.

“Yes, if this is okay for you than I’m just happy,” Josh assures fervently.

Tyler is cool with sharing the bed, Josh wants to thank heavens for his luck. He only remembers closing his eyes, and then the alarm clock on his phone — a hard-rock guitar riff — is yelling, and Josh realizes that Tyler’s head is lying on his bare chest. Josh feels like he’s got a private life; Tyler doesn’t even wake up as Josh dresses up and leaves the apartment. 

One of the neighbors from Josh’s floor  — an old lady who loves cats more than her husband — catches him near the door and asks him politely not to be so loud in his bedroom.

 

***

Two days later, Josh is more experienced with his telekinesis. He’s so pumped about it that he’s going to explode with the energy he’s holding inside of his body.

Finally, Tyler walks out of the shower and enters the bedroom, and Josh can’t wait to perform the show.

“Tyler! Dude, look at this!” he exclaims, snapping his fingers. The ceiling lights in the room turn off. “See?! I can do this!” another snap. The lights shine again, even brighter than before.

“Wow, good job, Josh,” Tyler throws his thumb up. “Really proud of you!”

“I just decided to start with little things,” Josh repeats the trick several times to prove he can control his powers.

That reading-lamp on the table is still working after Josh’s experiment.

“You’re doing great,” Tyler agrees, but then his intonation changes in the most uncomfortable way. “But… You know, Josh, I have to tell you something. It’s like, important.”

Josh isn’t surprised, so he just nods wordlessly; Tyler can keep his own secrets for so long, but then he’s blabbing them anyway.

That’s the time for another confession, apparently.

“I’m nervous,” Tyler clears his throat. “But well, listen. It’s the story from my past — that one day I got beaten up; broken ribs and all that shit,” Tyler starts, and Josh almost wants him to shut up.

“I’d like to find them all and kick their asses,” Josh mutters.

“So,” Tyler accepts Josh’s reaction and continues. “Jenna had to drive me to the hospital, and I had gotten checked, some blood tests, and… It was strange? The doctors thought there was some kind of a drug in my blood, but I s-swear I was clean!”

“What do you mean?” Josh frowns.

“My blood is like… Not human’s blood,” Tyler replies simply. “Healing broken ribs takes two days, anyway.”

Josh likes surprises, but not like this one — he used to Tyler’s powers and mood swings, and he can’t say if he’s scared now, but this situation is more than just odd.

“Uh, you are like… an alien?”

“I don’t know who I am.”

Tyler is very embarrassed and confused, and Josh just wants to help.

“You’re a legal alien,” he sings the line of the song.

“Sting is cool, but I’m mostly illegal,” Tyler sighs, resting his head on Josh’s shoulder.

“You’re a bad guy, wow, I like it,” Josh smirks.

“Oh thanks. Now I have no worries about my blood composition,” Tyler quips.

“At least, you look like a human.”

“I’m lucky.”

Green men aren’t green, okay. Tyler mentioned there was a UFO incident the day he appeared almost out of nowhere. Of course, his blood composition can’t change anything between them; but what if Tyler’s real biological body has tentacles or forked tongue or other disturbing things? This can be a problem.

But Josh is just overthinking.

“Yeah,” Josh says, shifting closer to Tyler and hugging him. “We’re lucky.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tyler doesn't have tentacles, i swear


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Joshua motherfucking Dun, don’t you fucking dare die on me!” Tyler yells, grabbing and squeezing Josh’s shoulders. Josh’s brain snaps back to consciousness; he even blinks his eyes open, only to see Tyler one more time. The last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for: blood/violence

All the next week Tyler is still searching for the buyer for his good old trailer. Then, he says he’s going to get a job and kind of ‘live a normal life’ how Josh calls it. At least, Tyler doesn’t even mention finding his own apartment despite his constant ‘is this okay?’ questions. 

“It’s okay,” Josh responds. He can’t lose Tyler after their adventures in the forest.

Josh keeps working on his telekinesis every day; he’s not great at it, he accidentally breaks things, and Tyler swears he’s going to wear a helmet next time, because his fast-healing doesn’t help him avoid some little injuries. Josh can feel his pain even. He isn’t sure why Tyler offers him to repeat this trick over and over again, Josh still feels uncomfortable with his superpowers crashing down on him. But at least he knows he can throw a person across the hallway with a wave of his hand.

There are broken fragments of Tyler’s ex-lab in Josh’s garage; Josh locks it, convincing himself he’s not going to control Tyler’s every step. He also convinces himself that Tyler isn’t going to build a rocketship or something equally weird.

Tyler likes watching stars, and he talks about them a lot, pushing Josh closer to the telescope and explaining the differences between the constellations, planets and secondary planets. Tyler has trashed the lab, but luckily, he hasn’t trashed himself; he still talks about aliens and UFOs, and ‘what if _they_ come back?’

Josh doesn’t know who _they_ are. Maybe, Tyler is really one of _them._

Yes, Josh hopes that Tyler is just a human, but it’s not a big deal if he’s not.

Tyler is his best friend, and he’s not like Josh’s _previous_ friends — they were always busy, always late, always ‘oh sorry, I forgot about your Birthday’.

Usually, Josh’s friends like to say they have no friends.

But not Tyler.

Tyler doesn’t talk about his loneliness.

Tyler clings to Josh in his sleep.

Tyler likes the X-files.

Living with Tyler is the best thing ever.

When he finally finds the buyer for his travel trailer, Josh gets worried; it’s like cutting the last rope that ties Tyler to his hobby, to his purpose, to his meaning of life — Josh is afraid it might ruin Tyler’s personality.

They’re not ready for another nervous breakdown.

 

***

The deal goes just fine. They sign the papers, shake hands with the buyer — it’s a smiley guy in glasses who travels a lot; then, Tyler pats the side of his house on wheels and says a ridiculously sad goodbye to it.

Tyler’s full-of-investigations life is officially over now; Josh feels like he has to comfort him, tell him silly good things or they just have to work on Josh’s powers to distract themselves.

They’re walking down the street; the night is warm and the sky is starry and clear, and Tyler doesn’t say a single word since the moment he gave the trailer keys to its new owner.

“We… Um,” Josh mutters, kicking small stones on the asphalt. “Are we okay?”

“I don’t know,” Tyler shrugs. “I feel something. Can’t understand though,” he lets out a shaky sigh.

Josh feels something too. There are tiny bits of anxiety soaring in the air.  

Tyler doesn’t hide black patterns on his skin anymore, he’s wearing a tank top, and Josh is still waiting for that wonderful gleaming. He liked it. That UFO incident in the forest killed the shining of Tyler’s tattoos; and Tyler killed his dreams, killed his laboratory. Killed a part of himself.

Tyler purses his lips, and Josh thinks he has to ask Tyler for a date, maybe, take him out one day.

Tyler doesn’t care.

Because there’s something very wrong. Again.

Suddenly, the sky explodes with the lightening; it’s so bright Josh feels his eyes burn, and goosebumps start to jump all over his skin as he realizes what that means.

It’s like déjà vu.

Josh wants to run and hide and take Tyler with him before something bad will happen, but his legs are shaking, and he freezes, gripping Tyler’s wrist. Gripping very hard, he feels bruises forming on Tyler’s tanned skin.

Josh can’t let the light take him _again_ ; they’re not in the forest — they’re on the street, in a very quiet living area. Josh thinks they’re alone there, because it’s almost 2 am, and everyone is sleeping; the light pushes all the thoughts out of Josh’s head, squeezing his brain and distorting the reality, and he can’t believe it _returns_.

Three times a Contactee. It’s Josh’s personal record.

“Tyler?!” he exhales, blinded by glowing rays coming from the sky.

He still holds Tyler’s hand.

“It’s not _them_ ,” Tyler shouts back. This time, there’s no that terrible rasping noise.“I don’t know, it’s something different.”

Josh’s eyesight adjusts to the light, he notices a person standing a few feet away from them. It’s a man; he throws his head back and stares at the sky, waving his hands above his head. It looks like a weird ritual.

“What the hell?” Josh mutters, pointing at the man on the other side of the street; the light goes a bit dimmer, it doesn’t hurt Josh’s head, and it’s strange.

He’s grateful, honestly; him and Tyler know pretty well what happens during the Contacts.

“I don’t want to scare you, but that dude has a gun,” Tyler replies, taking a step backwards and tugging at Josh’s arm.

Shit. Now Josh sees it too.

“Run?” Josh whispers.

“No,” Tyler responds in the same tone.

The man starts to scream.

“Where are you?” he shoots through the light above him. “Come on, I’m waiting for you, little bitches!”

Another shot.

“He can’t see us,” Josh guesses, wondering where all their curious neighbors are at the moment.

The street is empty, and Josh’s voice is a little too loud.

“I can’t see whom?” the man turns to them; it’s just a regular guy in a green hoodie and black knit hat. With a gun in his shaking hands. Josh expects the police and the crowd of people who will take pictures of light and post them on the internet. But there is nothing, Josh throws a quick glance at the sky to make sure there’s no spaceship this time. He doesn’t want to deal with that violent nosebleed again.

“We’re leaving,” Tyler says, slowly raising his hands up and showing his palms to the guy.

“Are you sure?” the guy asks mockingly. “What if I don’t want you to leave?”

“Dude,” Tyler sighs. “We had a bad day. Let us go.”

The guy points the barrel of his gun at Tyler’s chest.

“No.”

“Why?!” Tyler rolls his eyes; Josh is just amazed by his friend’s self-control abilities.

“I have to kill you,” the dude shrugs. “Or you,” he waves the gun at Josh’s side.

“Bad idea,” Josh says hoarsely; his heart goes crazy like it’s going to burst any second.

“What if you are their spies, hm?” the guy scratches the back of his head with his free hand.

“Man, we aren’t,” Tyler assures.

“Listen to us, dude, we’re not going to call the police or something, just please…” Josh throws his hands up and takes a little step forward.

The light gets brighter.

BANG.

The guy doesn’t let Josh finish the sentence. He just pulls the trigger, screwing his eyes shut and not bothering about the bullet’s flying trajectory. It takes only a millisecond; Josh tries to concentrate and create a dome or knock the bullet off his way, catching it into the energy trap, but this little metal thing is _too_ fast.

Praying for his superpowers, Josh manages to slow the bullet down and mentally celebrates the victory, but then there’s a hot pool of pain spreading across Josh’s stomach, wetting his t-shirt crimson; Josh promptly forgets what he was doing a moment before.

But he still hears that BANG echoing inside his head.

“Oh God, no, no, NO!” Tyler _roars,_ then gasps and chokes on his words.

It hurts.

Josh is either terrified or numb, he can’t tell the difference, his knees hit the ground, and he wraps his hands around his injured stomach. He’s quivering and bleeding, his fresh wound burns. Josh collapses on his side, but Tyler catches him carefully and helps him lie down; Josh’s vision is blurred, but he sees the armed guy run away, screaming something incoherent like _‘you’re one of them.’_

Josh was wrong thinking Tyler was a psycho.

Josh wants to say sorry.

The light from the sky is gone. Of course.

Josh sees the beads of stars and a shaky aureole of light coming from a street lamp above him.

He’s tired.

“Come on, Josh, don’t close your eyes, shit, Josh!” Tyler moans, removing Josh’s hands from the gunshot wound. “Oh damn. But there’s nothing serious, right?”

It’s serious.

Tyler doesn’t expect to get the answer, so Josh just sighs wordlessly, trying to save remains of his energy. He feels a bloody spot on his t-shirt grow wider; it probably dribbles onto the asphalt or flows like a red river.

Josh’s life wasn’t bad, but everything is just terrible now.

Tyler calls the ambulance, stuttering on every word and almost dropping his phone four times.

The operator tells them to wait.

So they’re waiting.

 

***

There’s too much red color. Josh is already falling into a deep black void, but Tyler’s high-pitched voice doesn’t let him hit metaphorical bottom.

“Joshua motherfucking Dun, don’t you fucking dare die on me!” Tyler yells, grabbing and squeezing Josh’s shoulders. Josh’s brain snaps back to consciousness; he even blinks his eyes open, only to see Tyler one more time. The last time.

Though, Josh can’t see straight; there is only the silhouette, too ephemeral and unreal, but anyway it’s _Tyler,_ he greets Josh with a crooked smile, swallowing hard and looking down.

“I’m so sorry, Josh,” he starts habitually, hunching his back and inspecting the gunshot wound; Josh can swear he feels the bullet twitch inside of him, scratching his insides each time he takes a breath.

“It’s not…” Josh attempts to say ‘it’s not your fault’ but the blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth cuts him off.

“Shut up Josh, fuck, just shut up,” Tyler shouts, pressing his hands over the hole on Josh’s stomach — that damned bullet just keeps eating his flesh from the inside.

Josh gags, turning his head to the side and wishing he could just fall asleep _for forever,_ skipping this horrible ‘the-death-is-kicking-my-ass’ phase. He reaches his hand to wipe his lips and then wipes his palm on his filthy t-shirt without even looking at it.

Tyler’s eyes widen in fright.

“Fuck.”

Tyler swears too much, it’s funny, Josh even giggles in his agony.

Suddenly, he wonders if Tyler is able to understand how much he means to him. If he has a chance to survive, he’s going to confess Tyler when this nightmare is over.

If it will ever be over.

“J-josh?..”

Familiar stuttering gives him hope at some point, but Josh can’t move his legs. The only real thing is a sharp pain in his stomach, sliding to his side and stabbing his back; Josh still hears Tyler scream, begging him not to leave, and Josh would like to obey, but the energy is flowing out of his body, and he’s drowning in a puddle of his own blood.

He’s freezing.

He’s gonna die before he turns thirty, Jesus, he hasn’t even turned twenty-five. Who will tell his family about his death?

Josh thinks back of the day he first met Tyler, how awkward it was, and how many chances he’s missed; thinks about the day he found Tyler in a trashed trailer — Josh saved his friend’s life. Now he can say he saved Tyler’s life twice.

They’ve been living in their tiny private world with stupid, no-one-understands jokes, and now-

His heart is crashing his ribcage from the inside, but the next moment it just refuses to work, and Josh groans, gasping for breath. He can’t stop falling, sinking down through a cold ground.

“Josh, look at me, it’s all gonna be okay, right?”

Tyler’s hands press a bit harder, and the pang of stomachache forces Josh to wake up once again; at the backwards of his mind Josh predicts Tyler’s intentions, but he isn’t sure if he wants him to continue.

Theoretically, Tyler can use his healing powers, but it’s dangerous for him in the first place; it’s not just a scald, it’s a fucking bullet that got stuck somewhere in Josh’s guts.

The touches of Tyler’s hot palms burn Josh’s skin through his soaked t-shirt; the sounds of Tyler’s heavy breathing are hypnotizing, and the world starts to spin faster. Josh’s eyelids drop shut; he knows he has to open them, but it feels like somebody poured glue all over his eyelashes.

That’s how it goes.

Josh isn’t scared anymore. Blood-loss works like a tranquilizer on him — he’s just tired and drowsy, but Tyler slaps him across the face abruptly, marking his cheek red. Oh God, Josh hates _red_.

“Mhm?” Josh groans almost resentfully.

“Don’t pass out,” Tyler says firmly. “Stay awake. That’s all.”

Tyler leaves him with no choice.

Josh feels something move inside of him, tearing him apart, and the pain becomes much stronger for a moment; the air is too sharp for his lungs. He thinks it’s the sign of Hell’s Fire, but then a burning sensation replaces with powerful thrusts; Josh’s muscles cramp and stretch, again and again until he starts feeling the ground underneath his aching back, small stones digging into his shoulder blades. It’s like Tyler pushes Josh’s soul back into his body.     

Josh bends his knees just to check if his legs are working again. Then, he opens his eyes, finding himself face-to-face with Tyler; his hands are shaking, warm and wet with blood.

“Ugh,” Josh blinks, refocusing his vision. He’s still half-blind after the shining in the sky.

“Josh? Hey?” Tyler sounds and looks like he’s going to cry in relief. He’s pale and petrified _,_ but his tired eyes light up as soon as he realizes he has just brought Josh back from the dead.

Josh’s t-shirt sticks to his torso, cold blows of wind make him quiver; completely whacked, Tyler falls on top of him, hugging and breathing stupid apologies into his ear in his usual manner. Josh feels like he got kicked in the gut, but at least he’s certainly not dying anymore.

“You’re… You are a literal alien,” Josh coughs, without blood this time.

Tyler squeezes Josh’s cold palm, giving him something — Josh looks at it through a thick fog surrounding him — a bullet. A piece of his almost inevitable death.

“It’s your talisman,” Tyler says perplexedly, taking a look at the small and still hot metal thing.

“You are my talisman,” Josh pants. He puts the bullet into the pocket of his shorts and gasps in surprise as Tyler pulls the hem of his wet t-shirt up. “How does it look?”

“Wonderful.”

Tyler just sits next to Josh on the ground, cross-legged, rubbing his stomach until they start to hear the sounds of the approaching ambulance car. The paramedics don’t let Josh get up, hovering over him, poking and prodding him, and then laying him onto the stretcher.

Tyler predictably refuses when they tell him to step aside, separating him from Josh; he struggles, but one of the paramedics just drags him away while the others ask Josh annoying questions like _‘can you hear me?’_.  Josh shakes the paramedic-woman’s hand off his shoulder and sits up on the stretcher, shuddering at the sight of blood on the asphalt. That crimson spot isn’t even that big.

The shock sets in, and Josh’s mind finally blocks itself; honestly, Josh is grateful to this, and he just takes his time, gathering his thoughts.

“We got mugged,” Tyler says before Josh manages to think up the explanation. “That bastard had a gun. He just ran away.”

“We… yeah,” Josh agrees, shedding his disgusting t-shirt and staring down at his stomach. There’s just a huge bruise on Josh’s blood-stained abdomen and a patch of fresh pink skin instead of a gaping hole. Fucking unbelievable.

Finally noticing _Josh’s blood_ all over his hands, Tyler makes retching-like noises and spits onto the sidewalk.

“Give him some water and a paper bag,” the paramedic orders, turning to the car.

“I don’t need a bag,” Tyler wheezes.

“Can we like… Just go home?” Josh asks, acknowledging the answer ‘no’ would be fair enough. But he has no desire to talk about what has really happened.

“We’re going to take both of you to the hospital, you’ve lost blood, mister…” the woman pauses, waiting.

“Dun,” Josh and Tyler reply in unison.

“But he doesn’t even have a wound,” the man-paramedic says, writing something on his clipboard.

“Would it be better if he had a wound?” Tyler asks crossly.

“I didn’t say that…”

“So what?”

“Tyler,” Josh tugs at Tyler’s hand, and Tyler throws a glance at him. “Please, shut up.”

“Sorry,” Tyler tells the paramedic, and he nods in response. “I’m just very, _very_ nervous.”

Josh wants to say there are no needs to take them to the hospital, but then he looks at the bloodied t-shirt on his lap and sighs loudly. But at least, his injuries distract everyone from spreading the gossips about another UFO-appearance. Yes, Josh’s attempts of being optimistic no matter what are pathetic.

But he’s _alive_.

 

***

The trip to the hospital doesn’t take long, though; Doctor Dawson checks Josh once again, staring at his bare, bruised torso. Tyler keeps asking questions like ‘ _have you found something interesting?’_ and gets shoved out of the door with the words _‘boy, go and wash your hands’_.

Probably, Dr. Dawson thinks it is just a sick joke, because Josh feels better and better within every second, but he’s anxious without Tyler. And he doesn’t want to confirm that he was dying in a pool of his own blood less than an hour ago.

It’s weird, but Josh has a bad feeling about it. What if all of them start to think that him and Tyler killed somebody, and the blood all over Josh isn’t his own? But then he stops himself with the thought of blood tests, and that shit about his DNA, and-

“You don’t even need blood transfusion,” the Doctor concludes, cleaning Josh’s left side from the red crust.

“Would it be better if…” the familiar voice starts, and Josh jumps up on the examination table.

“Tyler, guess what do I want you to do?” Josh moans.

Tyler cuts himself off promptly.

“Oh. It’s _you_ ,” Dr. Dawson’s face looks pretty much like he’s chewing a lemon. “How did you get there _again_?”

Josh laughs quietly at Tyler’s overprotectiveness.

“The nurse said only the family members are allowed to be here. But I’m his boyfriend, okay?” Tyler blurts out and looks at Josh as if Josh is going to hit him.

Tyler’s words explode inside of Josh’s head, stopping the thinking process of his brain and making his cheeks feel hot.

“Wow,” Josh mumbles, rubbing his shoulder.

“Your _boyfriend_ is going to be fine,” the Doctor assures. “I don’t even know how did he manage to lose all that blood without losing it? The scar looks pretty fresh, but it’s just impossible! This is the first such a mysterious case in ten years of my career.”

Meanwhile, Tyler keeps playing his brand new role.

“Is he okay? My Joshie, I love him so much,” Tyler croaks out and winces, facepalming with both hands.

Okay, it was too much: in Josh’s opinion it’s the worst short form of his name. But Josh assumes that his eccentric _(boy)friend_ just tries to make the Doctor lose his train of thought; it’s not a secret that Josh was admitted as a patient with a gunshot wound- except for the lack of an actual wound.

“Love is good,” Dr. Dawson says politely, scratching his beard. “Boys, I’d like to talk to you more, but… You can go home. _Please_ , go home.”

“Did you check him well enough? Is he 100% okay?” Tyler asks again.

“Yes and yes,” Dr. Dawson rubs his forehead tiredly.

“Thank you very much, we’re leaving now,” Josh slides off the examination table and goes out of the door, tugging Tyler next to him. He isn’t sure if he’s really 100% okay, but he reaches at least 80% now.

It was a tough night.

Josh almost falls asleep in a taxi cab on the way back home, but Tyler’s presence doesn’t let him get completely relaxed. Josh threw his ripped t-shirt into the nearest trashcan, and now he’s sure that Tyler stares at his abs when he thinks Josh can’t see him.

Josh is proud of his abs, though. But it’s not a good topic for a potential conversation.  

“Tyler, all that crap you said in the hospital, was it… Was it true?” Josh asks, shifting uncomfortably on the backseat and hoping the taxi driver won’t overhear them.

“Don’t ask. Man, just don’t ask” Tyler grumbles, turning to the window.

“You called me ‘Joshie’,” Josh frowns, tasting the name.

“Did you like it, huh?” Tyler pokes at Josh’s uninjured side. “Joshie.”

“Stop it, it’s not funny,” Josh resents, but Tyler just chuckles.

“You definitely like this nickname,” he smirks.

Josh ignores him for the rest of the ride.

 

***

Life gets much better after the hot shower; Josh finishes scrubbing the dried blood off his body and walks into the bedroom, feeling pleasantly relaxed. Tyler is lying on his stomach on the bed; Josh carefully slides under the covers next to him, not to bother his friend’s sleep.

Finally, he can take a rest, but not everything goes the way Josh wants.

“Josh, we need to talk,” Tyler mutters into the pillow then lifting his head up and glancing at Josh. “Do you understand you helped me so much?”

Late-night conversations are Tyler’s favorite things.

“You asked me to stay awake, so I did,” Josh shrugs.

“No, it was much more. _You_ pushed the bullet out, and I just closed the wound,” Tyler slowly sits up and pulls the blanket off Josh’s body, leaving him uncovered and defenseless. Though, Tyler is wearing only his black briefs, and Josh thinks he doesn’t have to be so self-conscious.

“I couldn’t even move, do you think I could do _that_?” Josh protests, trying to catch the blanket back. After a short fight Tyler just throws it away.

“Hm, yes?” Tyler starts rubbing the healing scar on Josh’s stomach. “I don’t move things, okay? And the bullet just jumped into my palm, so…”

“Okay, I did it. As you want… oh,” Josh forgets that he was going to argue, because Tyler’s fingers touch the waistband of his underwear. “Let’s just get some sleep?”

“Yeah,” Tyler replies with a little huffing. Then he crawls closer and presses himself to Josh, resting his head on Josh’s shoulder; the hair on top of Tyler’s head tickles Josh’s chin, and it somehow turns him on. _Awesome._

Josh clenches his teeth, breathing out through his nose and trying not to shove his hand down his boxers _right the fuck now_.

The morning is going to be awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was sad at the beginning, so i ended this on a positive note


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s interesting,” Tyler’s trembling hand clutches the hem of his grey t-shirt. “I’ve never kissed a guy.”
> 
> It’s not an offer, but Josh is drunk enough to perceive Tyler’s intonation the way he wants.

Josh spends the morning in the bathroom, shivering and sweating, and leaning his back against the tiled wall, his hand down his pants. He curses himself for jerking off on the image of а shirtless Tyler in his bedroom, and he’s really glad that Tyler doesn’t have any telepathic abilities. Hopefully.

He strokes himself faster, closing his eyes and letting out short shaky breaths.

This doesn’t take long.

The water in the shower is on, and Josh tries not to be loud even though he is doomed to failure. Thrusting into his palm, he just can’t stop thinking of Tyler’s skinny legs and jerky gestures; Josh likes Tyler’s flat stomach and his protruding ribs, his tattoos — that ‘ii’ symbol is dedicated to Josh anyway; his elusive smile — Tyler’s teeth are crooked a bit, but this makes him hot in the most impossible way.

It’s just a kaleidoscope of emotions, and Josh can’t even list all the things he likes about Tyler. At the moment Josh is sure he likes everything about his friend. Though, Josh has never seen Tyler naked, but it’s easy to imagine; he remembers Tyler’s accidental touches, and what if Tyler gives him signs, and _oh._

The moan comes out of the back of his throat, and Josh definitely fails at trying not to be loud no matter how hard he bites his bottom lip.

“Fuck,” he whispers, throwing his head back as the odd mix of relief and shame overwhelms him.

He changes his boxers and washes his hands when Tyler knocks at the door, ruining Josh’s dreams of having a tiny bit of privacy during his morning routine.

“Josh, come on. I’m waiting here like ten minutes already,” Tyler kicks the door impatiently. “I really have to pee.”

Oh great. Josh feels like he’s burning alive; he even bangs his damp forehead against the wall, which doesn’t help him gather his thoughts. He’s like a blushing teenager that got caught on stealing porno magazines from his dad’s collection.

_Ten minutes._

Josh wishes he could just disappear.

“Josh, did you drown there, or what?”

Still out of his breath, Josh sighs and opens the door.

“Finally,” Tyler huffs, entering the bathroom. Josh stares at the floor, guessing that the color of his face is as red as his hair. He hates red now.

He steps into the hallway, but Tyler’s hand on his shoulder stops him immediately; Josh swallows, unable to ignore the strong feeling of guilt.

“What?” he asks, turning face to face with Tyler.

It’s crystal clear — Tyler heard everything he was doing here. But Josh almost died last night, now it’s his turn to act weird. Usually he’s good at being quiet.

“The scar is still pretty fresh,” Tyler says in a low voice. “Do you want to get rid of it?”

“No, I want it to stay,” Josh replies without thinking. Tyler’s presence makes him feel hot again; maybe, they should stop walking across Josh’s apartment in just their underwear.

“But I can, really,” Tyler insists, pressing his warm palm to Josh’s abdomen.

“Dude, you were yelling about your urgent need to pee like a minute ago, did you forget?” Josh slaps Tyler’s hand, making him shudder. “You don’t have to heal my every scratch, okay?”

“I just wanted to h-help!”

Great, Tyler’s nervous stuttering has all the chances to be Josh’s Kink Number One. He almost hates Tyler for being so perfectly imperfect — that’s what Josh tries to think; he’s in love with Tyler — that’s what Josh thinks instead. He looks at the red skin on his stomach — the bruise hasn’t gone yet, it still hurts, but not as bad as before.

“I’m fine,” Josh slams the bathroom door shut and runs to _their_ bedroom.

Fucking family nest. Josh just craves to change something, and he has to start with himself; he grabs his clothes from the chair and gets dressed in a rush.

The water in the shower is still on; Josh runs past the bathroom door, almost clamping his hands over his ears not to hear _something_ embarrassing and leaves the apartment.

Josh has some things to do.

 

***

A little shopping works miracles on Josh; his mood gets much better by the time he gets back into the apartment.

At least, he doesn’t want to explode with anger anymore.

But Tyler isn’t here, and Josh doesn’t have to be a telepath to understand it’s his fault. But Tyler didn’t take any of his things, his black backpack is still lying in the corner, and his green jacket is still on the hanger. Josh sighs, his sigh involuntarily turns to a loud groan; he wants to call Tyler instantly and apologize for his morning behavior but decides to give him some time instead.

He’s bought the new hair-dye; really, Josh catches himself on hating red color every time he sees a flash of his curly hair in the mirror. But anyway, he’s going to call Tyler as soon as he finishes dyeing his hair.

 

***

Well, at first Josh is sure his new hairstyle looks just terrible. His hair is just a fluffy mess of faded and deep blue colors with the weird light-violet strands and bleached spots. Josh looks closer and notices some green smears even, he has no clue where they came from. Some chemical reaction, probably.

Josh rubs his chin and smiles at his reflection. Though, his smile fades when he remembers that Tyler still hasn’t come home, and he can’t share his impressions with his friend.

Josh pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and _finally_ calls him.

Being on the line and not getting the answer is the worst thing ever, Josh can’t help but starts panicking when Tyler doesn’t pick his phone on the fourth ring, but then-

“Hey,” Tyler replies hesitantly. There are some noises at the background like he’s standing in the crowd.

“Oh, dude, you answered me, I’m so happy now because you’re okay, where are you?” Josh blurts out. “Should I come and pick you home maybe?”

“Nah, I’m alright,” Tyler chuckles. “Just decided to walk. You were mad at me anyway.”

These words make Josh wince.

“I wasn’t mad at you,” Josh’s palm goes all sweaty as he clutches his phone.

“Okay, okay,” Tyler says apologetically. “I have a surprise for you!”

Josh glances at himself in the mirror again and frowns; he thinks he looks like an alien now.

“Surprise… I think I have one for you, too.”

“For me? Man, this is so sick!”

“Yeah,” Josh laughs, tugging one of the freshly dyed strands — it’s yellow, what the hell?

“Okay, I’m gonna be home very soon,” Tyler hangs up.

“I miss you,” Josh utters belatedly.

He accidentally painted the sink, and now it reminds him of some strange art-project; Josh tries to clean it to distract himself from waiting, but the blue stains don’t want to be washed away. Then, Josh notices the hair-dye spots all over his t-shirt, on his hands and neck and thinks he turned himself into the art-project as well.

He spends another fifteen minutes cleaning the mess when the doorbell rings. Josh throws the towel over his shoulder and goes to open the door; he beams when he sees Tyler with a grocery bag pressed to his chest.

Tyler stares at Josh as if he sees him for the first time in his life.

“So?” Josh ruffles his hair, smiling sheepishly.

“Wow,” Tyler reaches his free hand to touch Josh’s blue bangs. “It’s just. Wow.”

“Thanks.”

Tyler keeps giving him appraising glances as they go to the kitchen; Josh peeks into the bag and finds a bottle of tequila, lemon and snacks. Tyler’s surprise.

“We’re celebrating something, aren’t we?” Josh asks, pretending he doesn’t understand what’s going on.

“You’re alive,” Tyler just says and cuts himself off, fighting with panic and steadying his breathing. “And now we have money from selling my trailer.”

“Yeah, you did a great job last night,” Josh rubs his friend’s back.

“It was easier without that chip in my neck, and your telekinesis worked just right,” Tyler scratches the skin behind his ear again. “I almost fainted afterwards, though.”

“I noticed,” Josh scowls.

“I tried not to show that,” Tyler shrugs. “So. Do you want to train?”

“Not today. I think I have a better idea, come on,” Josh tugs at Tyler’s sleeve, enjoying his reaction.

Tyler smiles with the corner of his mouth and follows Josh as he guides him out of the apartment; the walls just press down on Josh, and the weather is just perfect today.

“Where are we going?” Tyler asks every second of their promenade, and Josh just laughs in response.

“You see if you catch me,” Josh makes a dash down the street; exhaling a quick ‘okay’ Tyler runs after him.

The sun is shining in the clear blue sky, and Josh squints his eyes, increasing his pace, but he knows Tyler is close to him anyway.

Some random people on the street look at them like they’re crazy, or Josh is a thief who stole Tyler’s wallet or something, but they don’t care. Finally, Josh feels free as he crosses the sidewalk and jumps over the barrier, turning around to check how Tyler passes it; he just makes a high graceful jump, almost pulling his knees to his chest, and a moment later he just materializes beside Josh.

“Impressive,” Josh applauses.

“It was easy,” Tyler smirks. “Really? Is this your secret place?”

“Yeah,” Josh nods.      

It’s just a street basketball court, nothing special. Josh comes here from time to time; he doesn’t even have to bring the ball — he hides it under the ugly bench, and no one tries to take it.

“Are you playing?” Tyler asks as Josh tosses the ball at him; Tyler just catches it with one hand and throws it into the basket without looking at it. “Wow, I didn’t know I could do this.”

“Are _you_ playing?” Josh scratches the back of his head, giving Tyler a puzzled glance.

“I don’t know. No. Yes?” Tyler grabs the ball and shoots another throw. “Always wanted to try.”

“You were born for it,” Josh compliments, pretending that Tyler’s skills don’t bite his dignity.

“Come on, Josh, I’m sure you can do it better!”

Josh is sure he won’t be able to do it better even if he will cheat with his telekinesis, but he accepts the challenge. Playing with Tyler is fun, but Josh hates losing the games; they just run across the basketball court, passing the ball to each other and throwing it into the basket.

Tyler wins with the score 36:20, but Josh pushes the ball in the air like three times and sends it in the wrong direction.

“Hey, no cheating!” Tyler laughs.

“I can use my powers without causing any harm, you should be proud of me,” Josh sticks his tongue out.

“Fair enough,” Tyler agrees, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

He’s good at sports. There’s the shadow of blush on Tyler’s cheeks, and his breathing is a bit unsteady after their three hours game; Tyler stretches and kicks the ball back underneath the bench.

Josh wants to say Tyler looks hot.

“Shower?” Tyler offers.

“Together?” Josh regrets he doesn’t bite his tongue again.

“Not today,” Tyler laughs.

They walk back home holding hands.

 

***

They don’t take a shower together, but this doesn’t ruin Josh’s good mood, because they’re having a pretty romantic evening in Josh’s bedroom.

“I can’t get drunk,” Tyler says, taking his first shot of tequila and licking the slice of lemon.

“Why?” Josh does the same, wincing at the strong taste.

“I don’t know. I tried to get myself drunk, but just couldn’t,” Tyler explains, filling up their glasses again. “I’m like, forever sober.”

Tyler still has a lot of secrets, and Josh isn’t sure if he will ever know every one of them.

Josh already feels a bit tipsy, but drinking with his completely sober friend is wrong, he thinks. He moves closer, so their hips press together; Tyler is radiating with the warmth through his t-shirt and black sweatpants, and Josh definitely has to drink more to ask him some important questions.

He doesn’t like alcohol though. But he gulps down this tequila anyway, because Tyler bought it for him, and fuck it all — Josh just wants to relax.

Four shots later Josh starts liking tequila; he even finds the courage to change the topic.

“So… you and Jenna…” he pauses, gesticulating with his hand carefully not to move something in the room.

Drunk Josh means clumsy Josh.

“We kissed,” Tyler raises his eyebrow when Josh lets out a disappointed groan. “And I was sleeping with Jenna once, we were like _literally_ sleeping, but I had a wet dream about my co-worker,” Tyler coughs as he says so, tapping his finger at the edge of his glass. “His name was Joseph, you know, like my last name, it was funny. But I didn’t expect to see him in my dream _that way_ ; I thought I was going to die from embarrassment!”

Josh doesn’t know why Tyler is telling him about this, shifting on the bed uncomfortably. No one likes waking up with their pants sticky, indeed.

“Dude, this happens sometimes,” Josh comforts him; he’s ready to hug the whole world, even though his world seems to be a little fuzzy.

“Yeah, now I can take it easy,” Tyler chuckles, finishing his drink.

“It’s natural,” Josh repeats. “So, what about your co-worker?”

“Huh. I couldn’t just come over a guy and ask if he liked me, could I?” Tyler hands Josh another shot of tequila and a piece of lemon. “Anyway, I’m still confused. What about you?”

Josh wants to tell a fairytale about his perfect personal life, really, but the alcohol in his system doesn’t let him lie, and he almost chokes on the lemon juice.

“My girlfriend was asexual,” he replies, swallowing the mouthful of tequila. “And I also was dating guys when she dumped me.”

Josh guesses his truth sounds dumb, and he takes another sip of his tequila to fill up the awkward silence; he even hears the clock ticking on the wall.

Tyler just thinks of something.

“That’s interesting,” Tyler’s trembling hand clutches the hem of his grey t-shirt. “I’ve never kissed a guy.”

It’s not an offer, but Josh is drunk enough to perceive Tyler’s intonation the way he wants.

He has no explanations for his behavior when he scrambles closer to Tyler and licks a thin line of his pursed lips; Tyler lets out a short surprised noise, opening his mouth, and Josh kisses him as best as he can. It takes a second before Tyler kisses back; Tyler barely avoids spilling his drink all over himself, setting it down onto the bedside table as Josh pushes him down onto the mattress and crawls on top of him.

Tyler peels Josh’s tank top off and throws it straight on the chair in the corner of the bedroom; Josh kisses him as a reward for a good throw, tugging Tyler’s shirt over his head and finally touching his bare torso. He wants to kiss every tattoo on Tyler’s chest and arms and he does, then sucking and biting Tyler’s lips again. Making out predictably turns into grinding, and Tyler gratefully accepts every Josh’s movement, moaning and gripping at his shoulders.

Tyler lifts his hips up, pressing his crotch to Josh’s to find more friction, and Josh just can’t believe they’re finally doing this, for real, in his bedroom, and he gently pushes his fingers underneath the waistband of Tyler’s sweatpants.

“Wait, wait,” Tyler whispers nervously, arching his back. “I’ve never done this before, you know?”

His voice is high, and it turns Josh on even more.

“First time with a guy?” Josh asks even though their situation is obvious; but probably tequila has killed some of his brain cells.

Tyler winces guiltily and rubs the bulge on the front of his pants to relieve some of the pressure; it’s quite awkward, but it promptly sends Josh to the edge.

“Yes, and just… First t-time at all,” Tyler stutters, wriggling underneath Josh. “I was just busy with that paranormal crap, oh my, _ooh,_ ” he exhales loudly as Josh’s hip slides between his thighs.

“It’s okay if you’re not ready,” Josh mutters confusedly, he was sure Tyler had sex with girls, at least.

“I’m ready,” Tyler snorts, loosening the ties on Josh’s black shorts. “Just do something, I can’t wait for forever, dude.”

“Fine,” Josh kisses Tyler again before pulling his sweatpants down along with his underwear. “Let’s do something.”

 

***  

In the morning Josh is so hangover that he almost throws up all over his pillow; he lies on his side, but Tyler’s arms are wrapped around his bare stomach, literally squeezing him.

“Ty. Lemme go,” Josh mumbles drunkenly, resisting the urge to retch.

“What?” Tyler asks sleepily as Josh untangles himself from his hug and rushes to the bathroom. “What happened?”

Josh hears Tyler running after him, but last night booze just craves to find its way out, already flooding his mouth; Josh slumps beside the toilet as deadweight and spills his entire stomach’s contents out into the bowl.

Tyler turns the light on, and for Josh it brings nothing but a terrible headache.

Tequila hangovers are the worst.

Josh takes a mental note as he pukes again. And again.

Suddenly, Tyler grabs his shoulders from behind, almost shoving him away from the toilet; Josh hugs the porcelain bowl to steady himself.

“Josh, Josh, why are you throwing up? What can I do?!” Tyler’s voice sounds hysterically. “Shit, say something!”

Josh would like to calm Tyler down, but his chest heaves painfully, and he can’t stop retching, twisting his stomach inside out. When Tyler’s panic reaches the highest level, he starts hyperventilating, still repeating the same ‘what’s wrong’ question.

“Tyler,” Josh spits the acidic liquid out of his mouth. “Stop screaming. It’s just a hangover.”

He feels Tyler’s fingers run through his hair.

“It’s just _what_?” Tyler asks perplexedly.

“What? You don’t know what does a hangover mean?” Josh almost smirks, wiping his lips.

“No,” Tyler mutters confusedly.

Tyler can invent the system that catches the extraterrestrial signals, but sometimes he’s as naïve as a little kid. Josh lifts his throbbing head up and glances at Tyler, who is wide awake now, and Josh admits he looks great in his boxers, but Josh is too sick to think of it right now.

“When you drink too much, you feel like this,” Josh sighs, reaching his hand for a button and flushing the toilet.

“But that’s not right?” Tyler guesses.

The water is swirling in the toilet bowl, and it makes Josh feel dizzy and nauseous again. He has some memories from last night, but he hopes he just blacked out during their make-out session or something like that.

But then he remembers something else; the picture is clear enough to make Josh’s face get even paler than a second ago.

They had sex.

They had sex, and Tyler cleaned them up after and offered to take some clothes on not to feel embarrassed in the morning. And also they couldn’t find Josh’s underwear, and that’s why he’s wearing only his shorts now.

“Tyler,” Josh pants, trying very hard not to start vomiting again.

“Yes?”

“How could you let me fuck you while I was drunk?!” Josh groans, feeling himself the worst betrayer on Earth.

“You wouldn’t do that if you were sober,” Tyler rolls his eyes. “Right?”

“Right,” Josh agrees and keeps coughing his stomach up.

Once he’s done, he brushes his teeth and takes the shower; Tyler doesn’t leave him alone in the bathroom, because _‘Josh, you can’t even stand on your own’._ When they get through the most disgusting part of Josh’s hangover (and Tyler cures Josh’s sickness), they just cuddle on the bed and talk.

Tyler nuzzles Josh’s shoulder and assures that Josh was great last night.

“Wanna hear about my first time? I was seventeen,” Josh mentally travels back in time. “It was just a house-party, and in the morning I woke up with a huge hangover, sore ass and with a naked dude lying next to me. It’s hard to forget,” he covers his eyes with the crook of his elbow to block the daylight shooting from the window.

“But he…” Tyler clears his throat. “H-he didn’t force you, I hope?..”

“No, no, of course not, I can say I liked him but didn’t know him well enough,” Josh explains, jerking his hand and closing the window with a curtain remotely. “By the way, I fucked that dude later.”

“Good to know,” Tyler huffs jealously. “So I can officially laugh at you?”

“Yes, Tyler,” Josh sighs, getting ready for whatever Tyler is going to say.

“Aw, our Joshie lost his virginity in a drunk one-night-stand,” Tyler literally _giggles_ , dodging Josh’s hand as Josh tries to slap his ass jokingly.

“…said the guy who lost _his_ virginity to drunk _Joshie_ ,” Josh grumbles. “But hey dude, reaching the orgasm with the alien is real, and now we both know it?”

Tyler rolls onto his back and crosses his arms over his chest, staring at the ceiling.

“Shut up, human.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're like together-together now


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome to my funeral, Josh.”

“Do you really like this?” Tyler tugs at the hem of his blue short-sleeve shirt.

“I really like _you_ ,” Josh replies, grinning at his friend.

They’re standing in front of the hallway mirror, and Josh wishes he could share his carelessness with Tyler. In Josh’s opinion Tyler looks like a hipster right now, in skinny jeans and his old Vans, and he’s shy enough to make a good first impression. Tyler’s dreams of finding a job become real — he’s going to have a meeting with the owner of a local auto repair service.

“I’m nervous. I have to stop being nervous, but I can’t,” Tyler sighs sadly, tapping his fingers at his hips. “What if he’s gonna ask me about my parents or something? I’m sick of lying about my parents’ death, I don’t have parents!”

Tyler lets out a frustrated groan, and Josh just kisses him gently, turning Tyler away from the mirror; Josh presses Tyler against the wall, licking at his mouth and palming him through his jeans.

“We’re about to be late,” Tyler chuckles, his cheeks blush as he gets hard at Josh’s touch. “Whatever,” he adds, fumbling with Josh’s belt.

“Woah,” Josh smirks, leaning closer and kissing Tyler’s neck. The smell of Josh’s perfume plays differently on Tyler’s skin, and Josh can’t get enough of it, breathing in every droplet Tyler just sprayed on himself.

“What?” Tyler asks blankly, leaving Josh’s jeans open and undoing the top button of his shirt.

No clothes — no problems.

Their second time is definitely going to be perfect unlike their first sex two days ago. Josh wants to get rid of Tyler’s suddenly too-tight jeans, but the knocking at the door interrupts him; he just freezes with his hand already down Tyler’s boxers and gives him an apologetic look.

Somebody keeps knocking, and there’s no way to finish a thing they have started.

“We, uh,” Tyler glances down at himself and then at Josh’s crotch. “Maybe it’s Jack?”

Basically, Jack is the owner of Josh’s rental apartment; he appears once a month only to take money and get Josh drunk. But drunk Josh means horny Josh. He and Jack woke up together once, lying on the bed naked; fortunately, Josh wasn’t sore all over, so he tried to forget about that awkward incident as soon as possible.

Doing his laundry, Josh also ignored the dried _something_ on the bedsheets.

“What if it’s Jack?” Tyler repeats, snapping his fingers in front of Josh’s nose. They live together less than a month, so Tyler hasn’t met Jack yet.

“It’s too early for him,” Josh responds, pulling his hand out of Tyler’s pants. “I’m gonna check it out, and then we’ll continue.”

Tyler nods and goes to the bedroom, adjusting his clothes; Josh zips his uncomfortable jeans up and looks around the hallway, searching for the belt, but Tyler somehow threw it onto the hanger. Josh shrugs and heads to the door.

And he’s stupid enough to open it without asking a traditional ‘who’s there?’

And Josh loses this knock-knock game.

Instead of morning sex he gets a well-delivered punch in the face; a fist hits his jaw, and Josh loses his footing. He notices three silhouettes in a grayish-green uniform before blacking out for a moment as one of these soldiers’ kicks him in the kidneys.

“Where’s it?” somebody above him roars.

_Where is what?_

“So rude,” Josh coughs, still lying on the floor and focusing on his burning palms and fingertips.

Josh is quite disoriented, but he shoves the nearest person away from him and doesn’t miss the target, sending one of the men hitting the wall with his back. Josh even starts thinking he’s a good fighter. Then, a massive dude with a beard grabs Josh’s arms, lifts him up and slams his head against the wooden floor for good four times. Josh’s bravery fades instantly, and his eyelids drop shut; he hears the footsteps distancing from him and into the room, a short pained gasp and а muffled sound of a body falling.

Josh should have warned Tyler.

Josh’s head smacks against the floor once again; he sees stars and fireworks exploding in his brain as he takes another hit.

“He’s here!” the man from the room yells, then there’s the rumbling, and the noise of something hard hitting the meat.

Static noises come out of nowhere. Josh thinks it’s the blood in his aching head is boiling, but then he realizes it’s just a walkie-talkie.

“VESSEL, can you hear me? It’s agent Merrick. Can you?.. Good. Mark found Object T-21. Zack just caught J-20, that telekinetic son of a bitch,” a different voice from the doorway says. “Okay. Fine.”

They have their own codenames. Josh thinks he has to buy a coffin.

“Hey kid,” a hard slap across his cheek forces Josh to open his bleary eyes. “Let’s have some fun.”

“Fuck you,” Josh hisses as his opponent — now he knows his name is Zack — grabs the front of his t-shirt and drags him up, shoving Josh’s face into the wall and pinning his arms behind his back.

Josh can’t even walk properly; his head’s throbbing in the weirdest way, violating his coordination as his captor leads him into the room.

All of it looks like a stupid reality show.

A dude in uniform clutches Tyler’s forearms behind his back in a similar position; Tyler only lifts his head up to glance at Josh. Josh wriggles, but the huge guy behind him just smirks and tightens his grip, hauling him across the room. He’s standing in front of Tyler now, just a few feet away.

“Don’t let him move, Mark,” without warning, the agent with walkie-talkie punches Tyler in the stomach.

Tyler clenches his teeth not to yell in pain, and then a fist smacks at his cheek, marking it with a big bright-pink spot.

“Get off of him!” Josh bawls, but the ache in his shoulders almost paralyzes him.

“Boys don’t want to talk, Merrick,” the guy named Mark laughs, twisting Tyler’s wrists.

Josh thinks he knows this face.

“Where is it?” agent Merrick asks before bringing his fist up again and hitting Tyler in the mouth. Josh’s heart skips the beat.

“Where is what?”

Seriously, Josh expects this question, he knows Tyler very well.

Another blow splits Tyler’s lips open.

“I d-don’t understand,” Tyler bends forward and spits the blood onto the carpet.

“Jesus, he’s _stuttering_ ,” agent Merrick starts mocking him. “What? Scared? Where’s the microchip, bitch?”

“I don’t kn-now.”

The blood slides down Tyler’s chin, but he just sniffs and licks his busted lips. He’s certainly about to fall down, but Mark does his best at keeping Tyler upright and making him an easy target for punches. Gathering all his rage, agent Merrick strikes his knee in Tyler’s abdomen, causing him to cough and wheeze.

“Stop!” Josh shouts angrily; Merrick turns around and slowly comes to him.

“Caring about your fuckbuddy’s health?” he hooks Josh’s chin with his thumb. “We know everything about you, about your family, about ‘I-was-thirteen-when-something-happened’, about everything. Thanks to him,” the agent points his finger at Tyler.

“What do you mean?”

Zack gives him a good shake, and Josh’s head doesn’t feel right; he’s dizzy, and the agent’s words turn into a mess of incoherent sounds.

“You passed the test, little shits, it was quite easy. Mark did one good shot, and you two started acting like idiots from a low-budget movie. ‘Don’t die, Josh, I love you’,” he says in a sing-song voice. “Using your powers on the street, seriously?”

Something clicks in Josh’s slow-motioned brain. Mark. This dude who’s restraining Tyler. The last UFO appearance was just a fake, oh God, that’s why they’d been feeling strange and not typical for a Contact! Josh already hates VESSEL.

“You’re twisted freaks,” Josh growls, struggling, but Zack’s fingers dig at his arms, almost puncturing them.

“Calm down, kid, it’s not the last great thing you’re about to know,” Zack chuckles bitterly. “VESSEL is supposed to punish your little crush. He’s done enough shit.”

Josh hates the ongoing situation; it’s much worse than those UFO incidents. He wants to scream, to kick somebody or break somebody’s neck, he has to protect Tyler — he’s so pure and innocent, and Josh just can’t believe his friend is able to do something dangerous. He hopes the agents won’t find the pieces of Tyler’s laboratory in his garage. There was nothing unique in his technical equipment though, but the way Tyler made it work kind of displayed Tyler’s real intellectual abilities.

What if this damned VESSEL wants to use Tyler for its own purposes and then just kill him or kill them both?!

Josh is terrified more than ever in his life; his aching heart races, thumping heavily against his ribs, and technically he can beat everyone with his power, but the black hole in Josh’s head swallows his brain, leaving only the nasty dizziness.

Meanwhile, Merrick approaches Tyler again; Tyler shudders as the agent snatches the collar of his blood-stained shirt.

“Your boyfriend is confused, isn’t he? So maybe let’s stop it, huh?”

“What d-do you want?” Tyler exhales weakly, mustering his energy for a death glare.

Josh wishes he could use his superpowers to tear them apart, he even attempts to call for his telekinesis again, but his knees buckle treacherously. Zack holds him upright, and Josh’s upper body hurts as fuck. The back of his head especially.

“Where’s the microchip?” the agent keeps pressing, there are the evil notes permeating his tone.

Josh is about to answer the question, but-

“Bathroom. Top shelf, the bottle of vitamins,” Tyler literally spits the words out along with blood.

“Good boy,” agent Merrick reaches his hand and pats Tyler’s disheveled hair.

It’s so disgusting that Josh feels sick.

Then, Merrick disappears in the bathroom; Josh has a ghost of hope that they’re free since now. Then he thinks he’s about to get fired, and Tyler won’t get his job.

“Sorry, Josh,” Tyler whispers, staring at the floor.

Josh nods before paying attention on Mark.

“How could you fucking shoot me?!”

“That was my work, VESSEL decided that was a good plan,” Mark replies, dodging Tyler’s head as he tries to smash his nose.

“That smartass T-21 almost did our job,” Zack grumbles with a tiny bit or respect.

The room is spinning; Josh wants to close his eyes to keep himself from seeing this stupid merry-go-round.

“No one is allowed to do our job,” Merrick interrupts their conversation with a satisfied grin, shaking a little plastic bottle in his hand.

He pulls something out of the pocket of his uniform pants, and Josh hears some electrical noises, and what the fuck — is he going to use a stun gun against Tyler?!

“No, stop, he told you the truth, st…” Josh gasps as the tiny yellow spark shoots through Tyler’s neck, and second later he goes completely limp in Mark’s hands; his head tilts forward, and Josh sees only a thin thread of red saliva coming from Tyler’s open mouth.

“Goodbye, Tyler,” agent Merrick huffs scornfully. Then, he comes to Josh, playing with the stun gun in his hand. “Goodbye, Josh.”     

Josh ducks his head, but then the weirdly warm thing presses to the tensed spot under his jaw, a flash of sharp pain makes his head swim even worse than before.

There are the white sparkles, then red dots, then black nothing.

 

***

“Wake up, Jo-o-sh, wake up!”

Josh’s insides are jerking and twisting, and he can’t understand if it’s him shivering or the world just loses its balance. His mouth tastes like dust and blood from his bitten tongue, and he can’t turn his pounding head to the voice. He knows this voice though.

Hopefully, Tyler is doing fine after that stupid ‘electroshock-therapy’.

“Josh? Come on, wake up, please…”

Tyler shakes his shoulder, and Josh gulps down something bitter and viscous, his dry throat hurts. The floor underneath Josh is moving, and there’s the pungent smell of gasoline and rubber, and Josh starts coughing as Tyler’s fist slams into his chest.

“Oh. Sorry,” Tyler mutters scaredly. “I just woke up.”

Josh forces his itchy eyelids open, but the flashes and shadows cause a pain in his obviously damaged brain, and Josh fights against the sudden bout of nausea. He suspects he’s going to get beaten up for throwing up all over the floor he’s lying on; he manages to hold it in, but he knows he’s going to hurl anyway.

He isn’t sure if they will let him use a bathroom.

“Shit, that asshole gave me a concussion,” Josh moans, trying to sit up and feeling immediately Tyler’s hands under his armpits, helping him lean his back against the cold wall.

His vision reluctantly finds the focus, and he notices a flat square lamp on the ceiling of their moving prison; the light is faint and dim, but it’s enough to catch some details of their surroundings. There are only two of them; likely, they’re in some big and empty truck, and Josh supposes that their kidnappers are going to drive them out of the town.

Josh feels like this truck crashed his body down hours before; he groans, because the vehicle jumps on the bumpy road, and Josh’s brain sloshes inside of his skull.

That dude’s fists were too fucking hard. Josh doesn’t remember how many punches he had taken. But Josh doesn’t want to ask Tyler to do a miracle with his head, because Tyler is probably still too weak after taking the beating. The skin on Josh’s neck stings; he doesn’t have to look at the mirror to know he looks miserable.

The truck shakes again, and Josh clamps both his palms over his mouth, swallowing spasmodically; it’s like that pulsating pain in the back of his head hits his stomach, pushing it up his throat, and Josh is about to give up.

“Hey?” Tyler is still on his knees beside Josh; of course, Tyler understands Josh’s unexplained sufferings.

Tyler places his hand on the top of Josh’s head, and his free hand rubs his rolling stomach; Tyler closes his eyes, concentrating on letting his energy out, and so does Josh.

“Sh, Josh, it’s just a concussion, it’s easy to cure, calm down,” Tyler says quietly, and Josh nods in agreement.

Josh counts to ten again and again, until he starts feeling a bit calmer. Tyler’s powers soothe the pain, and that nagging nausea finally goes away; Josh removes his hands off his lips and takes a deep breath, filling up his lungs with oxygen.

“Better?” Tyler asks concernedly.

“Yeah,” Josh blinks hard. He glances at Tyler’s face and notices that his blackeye seems to be fine, his bottom lip is covered with a crust of dried blood, but there’s no cut anymore. But he’s exhausted and startled.

“Your jaw is bruised,” Tyler utters. “But you don’t want me to heal _your every scratch_ ,” he quips.

Josh can bear a bruised jaw, it’s not the worst.    

Tyler still sits in front of him, rubbing his palms, tangling and untangling his shaking fingers and obviously battling fear and panic. Josh’s head feels clear enough to start thinking up the strategy for their escape, but honestly, he has no clue what the fuck is going on. He’s about to try and break the lock on the back door of the truck or he thinks he will be able to knock out their kidnappers on their stop. He and Tyler aren’t going to spend the rest of forever here, in this stupid dusty and smelly truck.

Though, Tyler doesn’t support him; he just stares at the dirty floor, his face doesn’t even express any emotions. His usually tanned skin is pale now, it’s so unnatural and scary like Tyler is turning into a waxwork.

“Hey?” Josh pokes at Tyler’s forearm with his finger.

Tyler shakes his head before turning to Josh. And he says the phrase that stabs Josh’s heart in the most realistic way.

“Welcome to my funeral, Josh.”

“Dude, what? What are you talking about?” Josh lets out a short nervous laughter. “No one is going to die!”

Comforting Tyler is his duty; instead of breaking the lock, Josh leans to Tyler, taking his hands and trying to look into his eyes.

“You d-don’t know a thing about VESSEL,” Tyler says.

“But you know, right?” Josh frowns. Tyler’s information about their enemies might help.

“I’ve heard about this corporation,” Tyler explains cagily.

Josh isn’t surprised.

He just nods, gets up from the floor, dusting off his jeans and looking around the truck. It keeps shaking, and it means they have to jump out of the moving vehicle; Josh doesn’t hear any noises except for his own heavy breathing and the sound of engine.

Tyler sneezes, covering his lips with his hands and then wiping them on his pants.

“Come on,” Josh makes Tyler stand up, letting his apathy dissipate a bit. “Let’s try to find a way out.” 

“There’s no way out.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Ty,” Josh pats Tyler’s back enthusiastically.

The truck jumps up on the endless road, and Tyler grabs at Josh’s shoulder not to fall over.

But then, the vehicle suddenly stops. The rotting remains of Josh’s boldness drown in fear, but if Tyler pretends he isn’t scared, then Josh is able to fake it too.

“So. What’s your plan?” Tyler bounces away from the door.

“Kick every ass and run,” Josh responds, gathering the invisible balls of energy on his palms.

He knows he will fail at stopping the bullets, so he just hopes no one is going to start a gunfight.

Josh only prays for their captors’ sanity as he hears the footsteps coming from the other side of the truck’s door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is going to be the most important plot twist!  
> \---  
> alright, it's weird, but actually this was my plan from the very beginning, so i'm glad i finally wrote this chapter. i'll try to explain like everything in future chapters though. i like bandom so much, so picking the 'villains' is always hard for me, BUT I HAVE TO, oops  
> \---  
> thanks EVERYONE for reading/commenting/leaving kudos, thanks for motivation! <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So,” Tyler clears his throat, but Zack interrupts him with one single word.
> 
> “Strip.”
> 
> Josh expected anything but not this. This looks more like a stupid party-joke.
> 
> “What?!”
> 
> “Strip. That’s the order,” Merrick says calmly, the stun gun in his hand already.
> 
> There’s the cloud of embarrassment and fear, Tyler clenches his fists in defeat, and there’s no way to avoid all the procedures the agents want to perform.

Somebody yanks the door open, and Josh uses the advantage to jump out of the truck and cover Tyler with his back, focusing on creating a thick energy dome around them. Josh isn’t sure if there’s the point to break the rules he doesn’t even know, he’s just obsessed over the idea of saving their lives, and it’s the most important thing at the moment.

Though, Josh can’t hold the dome for long no matter how hard he tries to — come on, this telekinesis just destroys his stamina and blurs his mind. It’s terrible, Josh realizes that the agents are beside them; these people in uniform are just waiting until he breaks. But Josh isn’t going to break; he throws Mark across the street as a revenge for shooting him, he grabs Tyler’s hand and forces him to run, avoiding Zack’s fists or something equally heavy.

The sky is dark, their surroundings look like a typical backyard mixed with forest. Or maybe it’s just a secret parking lot lightened with the street lamps — this place is actually too bright — Josh and Tyler are too noticeable here.

What the hell?

Maybe they have a chance to knock everyone out and pretend it was just an accident.

Tyler manages to shove Merrick away and hit him in the jaw while Josh brings his energy up for another telekinetic attack; he’s so busy dodging Zack’s sucker-punches that he forgets about Mark.

Unfortunately, Mark is a good sniper. And of course, agents have some weapons in the truck.

At first, Josh doesn’t even understand why his leg goes numb all over and his left thigh stings slightly. When he understands though, his arms are already pinned behind his back again, and there’s Zack’s heavy breathing on his neck. Josh looks down and curses loudly, noticing a small dart in his thigh and guessing it’s a tranquilizer; Tyler’s eyes fill up with unconcealed pain as he sees Josh’s injury.

“Shit,” Josh repeats, hearing a laughter coming from someone from the group.

Tyler distracts on the sound, and Merrick doesn’t think twice before punching him; the agent’s elbow connects with Tyler’s ribs, his fist hits him in the back of his head, and Tyler falls on the ground. He’s still conscious when Mark makes a dash towards him and helps Merrick press him down to the asphalt.

Josh feels terrible, the weird hotness floods his veins instead of blood, and he wishes he could get rid of the pressure under his skin, he wishes he could push his energy out, but it just stays locked inside of his body.

He’s going to explode.

He wants to shove this stupid walkie-talkie up Merrick’s ass.

“VESSEL, it’s Merrick. Object J-20 is neutralized, Object T-21 is ready for the examination. Me and my squad are heading to the gates.”

Josh is surprised he hasn’t passed out yet, what kind of shit was in that tiny syringe? He wriggles, trying to get his arm free to take the dart out of his leg, but Zack just smirks and twists his shoulders in the most painful way. Okay, Josh isn’t going to joke with the well-trained agent who’s actually twice bigger than him. Tyler can heal a broken bone, but it doesn’t mean Josh wants to get a broken bone — he thinks he hears a slight creak in his wrist already.

“Come on,” Merrick says, and Mark nods in response, pulling Tyler up from the ground and grabbing his hands, the dart gun is still hanging behind Mark’s back. Josh hates himself he didn’t notice that earlier.

Josh is still waiting for the inevitable effect of a tranquilizer, but nothing like this happens — agent Merrick just comes to him and takes the dart out with one jerky movement, scratching Josh’s skin underneath his jeans.

“What the fuck it was?” Josh hisses out as Zack makes him turn away from Merrick and drags him into a literal nowhere.

“A special serum to make you less aggressive,” Merrick replies with a small chuckle. He puts the dart into the pocket of his pants; he probably has a habit to pocket everything.

“Oh, I’m still pretty aggressive,” Josh grits his teeth in pain, because Zack squeezes his hands, and Josh almost feels the drops of his useless energy falling down from his fingertips. He thinks he starts figuring out what Merrick is talking about.

“But you can’t use your powers,” Merrick responds, and Josh just can swear he adds a mental ‘son of a bitch’ to his answer.

“Experiments?” Tyler joins the conversation quietly. “Such a cliché.”

“We have to learn more about this one. I thought you knocked his teeth out,” Mark points out, pushing Tyler forward. “But the Object looks unharmed.”

“There’s a lot of work, move, guys!” Merrick shouts, ignoring Mark’s words.

They don’t talk during the short walk; there’s only the rustling of dry gravel, and Tyler sighs loudly every time he stumbles on his own shoelaces. There are the mesh gates and a building that looks like a huge garage — Josh starts thinking their kidnappers are just maniacs and not agents of some super secret corporation.

Then, Merrick opens the door, and Josh sees nothing but a metal stairs and darkness with the faint aureoles of light coming from the small lamps on the one of the walls. They walk down the stairs silently, Josh and Zack make their way first, then waiting for the rest of the group; as soon as they meet near the last step they enter a long and dark hallway.

The ocean of unreleased energy rips Josh’s chest apart, but he can’t do anything to save himself from this nasty sensation.

Josh squints his eyes as the bright light at the end of the hallway hits him in the face — such a symbolic thing. He really, really wants to ask where they’re going, but he doesn’t want to play with the agents’ nerves; at least, Merrick kind of stopped punching Tyler for only his existence, and maybe Josh can find something positive in this. They pass through the hallway, heading straight to the light — there’s the one small platform, and there’s another hallway, blue glowing rays are coming from the opposite walls, creating a grid, or a trap, or maybe it’s just a laser that will kill them.

Josh loses himself in his surmises.

Surprisingly, Zack’s hands stop twisting Josh’s arms, and Josh rubs his elbows and wrists to normalize the blood circulation. So does Tyler — the fresh bruises on his forearms look especially colorful in the light. Mark even winces, glancing at him.

“So,” Tyler clears his throat, but Zack interrupts him with one single word.

“Strip.”

Josh expected anything but not this. This looks more like a stupid party-joke.

“What?!”

“Strip. That’s the order,” Merrick says calmly, the stun gun in his hand already.

There’s the cloud of embarrassment and fear, Tyler clenches his fists in defeat, and there’s no way to avoid all the procedures the agents want to perform.

“We’re not in prison, did you kidnap us only to see us naked?” Josh crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at Merrick.

He doesn’t know why he acts like Tyler usually does.

“I said: strip. Better do it by yourself or I’ll break your arm to take off your shirt easier,” the agent barks.

Josh wants to start a fight even though it’s going to be the shortest fight in history; the bubbling of his telekinesis calms down a little, and there’s only the nagging feeling of emptiness in Josh’s ribcage. Though, he can’t feel completely empty as long as he has Tyler by his side.

“God, why is everyone so rude?” Tyler asks sassily, getting a hard thump in the back from Mark.

“This is what you deserve,” Merrick huffs.

“Why?!” Josh can’t hold his rage back.

“No more stupid questions!”

Merrick’s voice rings in Josh’s ears.

Maybe it’s better to obey.

Some buttons are ripped off Tyler’s dirty and blood-stained shirt; he takes it off and throws it onto the platform, nodding to Josh. Groaning, Josh tugs his t-shirt over his head and lays it onto Tyler’s shirt on the floor.

Merrick just rolls his eyes in irritation.

“Like it?” Josh asks mockingly, unzipping his jeans and pulling them down to his ankles.

“Better shut up,” Zack warns.

Though, they don’t stare at Josh; Mark only takes a quick glance at the round scar on Josh’s stomach and turns to Tyler. Everyone turns to Tyler, confusing him; the blue light from the hallway sticks to the patterns on Tyler’s chest and arms, making them shine. Tyler swallows nervously, trying to cover his torso, but he can’t hide the gleaming of his tattoos- not exactly that gleaming he had before getting kidnapped during the Forest Incident. The shining isn’t yellow, it’s blue and white, and it’s the first time Tyler’s marks react to something this way.

“What the hell are you doing?” Merrick scratches his cheek, unable to tear his eyes away from Tyler.

“I d-don’t know?”

“We have to check if he has more marks,” Zack says.

“It’s all, I swear,” Tyler mutters, undoing his jeans.

They’re standing in front of the hallway’s entrance in just their underwear, even with no shoes and socks, and for some reason Josh thinks it’s still not enough.

Shit.

Josh sighs and reluctantly starts tugging his boxers down.

“Hey kid, stop,” Zack raises his hand up. “Leave them on. It’s not a porn-casting, no one gives a fuck about your size.”

“Aw, so nice,” Josh deadpans.

“Hurry up,” Merrick pushes Josh closer to the hallway. “And don’t do anything stupid or I swear I’ll kill you right now, despite your uniqueness.”

Josh rubs the small red dot oh his thigh — a mark from the injection — and steps into the illuminated hallway. He screws his eyes shut, feeling the goosebumps jumping all over his bare skin; blinking, he tries to look forward to see the end of the hallway.

There’s somebody behind him, and Josh hopes it’s Tyler but hears Zack’s voice instead.

“Move,” he says, and Josh attempts to look back and check how Tyler is doing.

Zack grabs his shoulders and forces him to keep walking. Rays of a blue light tickle Josh’s skin, crawling inside of him, and Josh isn’t sure if the agent feels the same. Josh has a huge amount of questions, but he can’t even open his mouth.

The hallway isn’t long, but it seems as endless as this evening.

“Identification procedure complete!” Zack exclaims, maneuvering Josh out of the hallway. There’s a similar platform, and Josh grips at the metal railings as soon as they stop here.

“Was it radiation?” Josh asks cautiously. He’s not pleased to have any kind of poison in his system.

“No. Scanning system.”

“Where are we? Where’s Tyler?” Josh turns to the hallway’s exit, but Zack snatches his arm and almost presses him back to the railings.

“We’re in VESSEL underground laboratory, and your boyfriend isn’t going to have good times here,” Zack replies. “And shut up,” he orders.

Josh is freezing. There’s a good conditioning or something like this, the air is too cold, and Josh rubs his bare shoulders to keep some warmth. He almost envies to Zack’s uniform.

And he hates VESSEL.

He knows they’re waiting for Tyler and others; Josh is so worried that he starts biting his nails, and also he kinda wants to find a wall to bang his head against it. Though, he loses the train of his chaotic thought when the blue light in the hallway goes bright red, and a horrible rasping sound of the siren fills up the space.

Josh clamps his palms over his ears, but he hears Tyler’s screaming anyway.

“Why do you think it was m-me?!”

Mark and Merrick lead Tyler out of the red light, holding his hands even though Tyler doesn’t struggle; he lets them shove him onto the platform beside Josh and Zack, and the yelling siren turns off automatically.

“Alarm. Object T-21 is not a human!” Merrick shouts, and Josh can swear he’s scared, no, he’s terrified of Tyler.

“Oh shit, I can’t believe we finally caught him,” Mark breathes out heavily, making sure Tyler isn’t going to kill them for disturbing his peaceful life.

“Now he’ll tell us all of his secrets,” Merrick smirks triumphantly.

Josh’s worst fears become real. He’s a Contactee almost of the highest level, he has stupid powers he’s never asked for, and Tyler… Tyler is a genius, a magnet for Contactees, an ufologist in his past, and nobody knows about the true results of his investigations.

He’s a very interesting Object.

Though, Tyler doesn’t act like he doesn’t understand what’s going on: he glances at his tattoos — they’ve almost stopped gleaming. That lightening didn’t look natural, it was quite disturbing.

It seems like Josh is the one who doesn’t know what’s happening here.

 

***

VESSEL laboratory looks like an alternate universe or like some secret headquarter from the action movies. Though, it’s real. That ‘garage’ with antennas on the top was just the tip of the iceberg — VESSEL occupies a huge area underground. Josh is waiting for the continuation of identifications, tests or something, but their captors just lead them into a small room that looks like a storage room with carton boxes and dust-covered shelves.

Merrick rummages through the stuff on the shelf and takes out two red coveralls with zippers at the fronts and pockets, and two pairs of ugly brown shoes without laces.

No laces. No belts. Those are the prison’s rules, and it looks so trivial, that Josh winces queasily — he doesn’t want to wear this shit, but it’s somehow better than walking everywhere half-naked. Really, Josh is about to catch a cold, and he hears Tyler’s teeth chattering, and he’s pretty sure everyone else can hear that sound too.

Their new clothes are a bit baggy and uncomfortable, rough fabric scratches and irritates the skin, and it turns out that the pants of Tyler’s coverall don’t cover his ankles as he puts the uniform on.

They look like the prisoners they are. Or like janitors.

“Good,” Merrick rubs his eyes tiredly. “I gotta go and check some files, Zack, Mark, guide them into their room. And don’t let anyone else in until tomorrow.”

“But the results…” Zack starts, snatching the back of Josh’s coverall.

“Tomorrow,” Merrick replies, leaving the storage room.

Then, he checks his watch and disappears upstairs.

Josh only takes a step forward, but Zack is already here to grip his wrists and twist them- Josh is almost sure his right one is already sprained.

“Shit, stop it,” his voice almost cracks. “Dude, it hurts, really.”

The grip loosens a little, but for Josh it’s not enough to feel his numb palm or move his fingers. But at least the bone stays on its place.

Josh’s head goes dizzy as Zack and Mark lead them through a labyrinth of corridors and stairs; there are some opened and closed doors, they meet some people in uniforms and white coats on their way. Some of them give Josh and Tyler puzzled glances, some don’t pay attention on them, staring at their paper folders and clipboards.

Life just keeps going here, Josh thinks sadly as he gets shoved towards the steel door with a massive padlock.

Josh starts hoping the key is missed, but Zack pulls it out of the breast pocket of his uniform and opens the door.

“Come on, we need to take a rest,” Mark yawns, dragging Tyler into the room.

Josh closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, stepping into the room and wishing he could get rid of Zack’s hands on his forearms. When he opens his eyes he expects to see a tiny and dirty prison cell with a mattress on the floor and a rusty bucket in the corner, but apparently, VESSEL takes care of its ‘laboratory rats’. The room is clean, it has two beds with pillows and blankets, and surprisingly, it has a door in the grey-painted wall.

Josh hopes it’s a restroom.

There are no windows though. But they’re underground anyway. 

In all, their cell looks like a cheap hotel room.

“No smoking, no using powers, no sex,” Zack chuckles. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

“And don’t kill each other,” Mark says in all seriousness.

Tyler just nods wordlessly. Zack and Mark just lock them from outside, letting them know their adventures for today are over. Hopefully.

Actually, it’s a good thing that they have their own place.

Almost fourteen hours without water and food; they’re still pretty beaten up and exhausted, and Josh is kind of afraid of the serum that rushes through his body along with his blood. Will he ever be able to use his telekinesis again?

Tyler crosses the room and plops down onto the bed with a loud groan, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering slightly. Josh sits down next to him and throws his arm over Tyler’s shaking shoulders, unsure what to do if Tyler is going to have a panic attack. He’s not suffering from this though, but his nerves are definitely not okay. Covering his head with both his hands, Tyler lets out a pained moan; the feeling of guilt coming from Tyler is so strong that it creeps into every cell of Josh’s body. He wants to break the silence; he expects to hear echo as he begins to speak.

“What hurts?”

There’s no echo.

“My dignity,” Tyler mumbles, his palm slides off his face and to Josh’s hand.

The ache in his wrist stops being so sharp, and Josh jerks his hand in fright.

“No, Tyler, don’t…” Josh’s right wrist now doesn’t even look swollen. “Why? They said no using powers!”

“So what?” Tyler smirks. “You were in pain. I wanted to help.”

“Thanks for that, but don’t you think there are cameras?”

Josh feels anxious all of a sudden.

“It’d be fun, we are bad guys. Imagine us having sex here,” Tyler sticks his tongue out, licking his lips. “Harder, Joshie, _harder,_ ” he whispers almost seductively.

“No, wait, not Joshie- J-20,” Josh corrects him with a half-smile. Honestly, he’s too tired, hungry and thirsty to think about sex let alone to have one, but anyway, Tyler is just trying to joke.

“Stupidest codenames ever,” Tyler admits, huffing and getting up from the bed. He goes to the door in the corner and enters the room; there’s the noise of running water and then Tyler’s disappointed shout. “There’s only cold water! But there’s the toilet though.”

Not a bucket at least.

Josh is scared of tomorrow, and Tyler just changes the topic of their conversation in every single possible way; Josh even starts thinking that Tyler is working for VESSEL, but Josh banishes this thought before his paranoia will get a chance to surface. Tyler is that kind of guy who needs to do something not to lose himself in fear; he has to find a distraction, even if it’s something stupid like water temperature.

Tyler can’t betray him.

Just can’t.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just trying to describe it the way i see it in my head  
> \---  
> thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Explain what kind of shit is going on between you and VESSEL,” Josh grabs the collar of Tyler’s uniform and forces him to look into his eyes.
> 
> “Do you have your own theory?” Tyler quips.
> 
> “Come on,” Josh pulls Tyler closer, almost bumping his nose against Tyler’s.
> 
> “I’ll tell you what I know, okay? Just stop,” Tyler shivers, and Josh removes his hands from his collar. “Thanks.”
> 
> “So?”
> 
> Tyler looks scared. Josh didn’t mean to make him scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last part of the chapter might be disturbing, warnings again

The light pouring from the ceiling is too bright to do something good for Josh’s headache; he wishes Tyler sat back onto the bed and stopped pacing nervously across the room. Josh is lying on the blanket with his eyes closed, but he still can hear Tyler’s quiet footsteps, and he sees the yellow shadows sneaking between his eyelids.

To turn the light off would be really nice.

“What time is it?” Josh asks even though none of them has watch. He just wants to fill up the almost tangible void.

“Maybe midnight?” Tyler shrugs. “I’m not sure.”

Josh stretches and sits up, leaning his back against the wall; he blinks to clear his vision and keeps watching Tyler. This doesn’t help him calm down though, because Tyler keeps acting weird. Josh can’t explain that to himself, and he feels bad for blaming Tyler; he shakes his head, focusing on the throbbing pain in his bruised jaw and trying not to jump to conclusions.  

“What are they going to do with us?” Josh almost whispers, but Tyler catches his words, standing in the opposite corner of the room, near the door; it seems like he wants to overhear what’s happening in the hallway.

“Tests? Asking us questions?” Tyler turns back to Josh.

“I’d prefer dinner, actually,” Josh sighs, suddenly feeling extremely homesick. This bed is too hard, this blanket is too scratchy, and this pillow is uncomfortably flat.

He isn’t sure if he’s going to get some sleep after being unconscious almost all day, his brain is wide awake now, but Josh just can’t keep his eyes open. He wants to relax for a second, and he feels Tyler is nestling on the thin mattress next to him.

Josh has to keep on thinking up the strategy, but he rests his head on Tyler’s shoulder and lets his mind float away.

 

***

“Wake up!”

The door slams into the wall, and Josh jumps up on the bed, almost falling from it; he finds himself lying on top of Tyler and tries to remember how he ended up here. It doesn’t matter, he decides, because Zack enters the cell; he has definitely noticed that Josh and Tyler had fallen asleep together, and hopefully, their habit didn’t break any rules.

Tyler pushes Josh away from himself and stares at him like they’ve never met before.

“Five minutes. I’m waiting outside,” Zack informs, leaving the room again.

Five minutes is only enough for using the bathroom; then, Josh splashes his face with cold water, wiping it on his sleeve. It’s gonna be a long day. Again.

“Good luck,” Tyler says when Josh comes back to the room, mentally preparing himself for whatever is going to happen.

“Good luck,” Josh responds darkly.

They don’t count the minutes, but Zack just comes for them and takes them out of their cell; there’s a maze of hallways and doors, their walk goes in a haze, and Josh even has to admit that VESSEL reminds him of a Space Museum. He even wants to ask if there are any rocket ships or something like that.

Then Josh remembers he’s a prisoner here, Zack’s hand grips at the back of his coverall and his other hand squeezes Tyler’s upper arm like he’s going to run away from him. But Tyler just notices something behind one of the doors and suddenly stops; his face goes pale, his Adam’s apple jerks up and down as he swallows nervously.

“Hey kid, move,” Zack grumbles, dragging Tyler away from the door; Tyler’s facial expression is blank; he pulls his hand to his mouth and starts chewing his thumb, reluctantly walking along with Zack and Josh.

A few minutes later, Zack leads them to the door of some office; there’s the examination table, a couple chairs and a cute nurse with bright yellow hair. She waves at Zack and gives him a sign to go out of the office. A digital clock above the door says it’s 5:42AM. Josh doesn’t like early mornings.

Josh sits down onto the examination table, and so does Tyler.

“What the hell?” Josh hisses at Tyler while the nurse and Zack are still out of the door.

“M?” Tyler asks distractedly.

“Did you see a ghost or what?” Josh catches Tyler’s hand and pulls it out of his mouth.

“No, I’m just…” Tyler takes a deep breath. “It was just my imagination, okay?”

Josh doesn’t have a time to respond, because the girl in a white coat comes back and reaches her hand for a shake.

“Hello, I’m Hayley and I want to take your blood for tests,” she says to Josh as he shakes her hand. “Actually, I expected to see some mutants as my ‘secret patients’,” she adds in a less official tone.

“We are,” Tyler interrupts her. “Everyone knows I’m a non-existent creature, and Josh has telekinesis.”

“Oh, right,” Hayley snaps her fingers then shoving her hand into a pocket of her coat. She takes out a small Lego brick and lays it onto the table beside Josh.

“And?” Josh frowns.

“Move it if you can,” Hayley shrugs.

“I can’t,” Josh grumbles, rubbing his face with his hands. “Your friends kind of blocked it with some shit, you know?”

“I know,” Hayley replies guiltily. “Zack told me. Okay, forget about it. Roll up your sleeve.”

Josh would like to turn this stupid table upside down and smash something, but a) he’s not that type of people who likes to destroy things; b) he can’t do anything anyway. Josh is sure he’s going to faint or have a pretty bad nosebleed if he’ll try to use his powers, but his curiosity encourages him to take a risk; while Hayley is busy disinfecting the crook of his elbow and taking his blood, Josh focuses and tries to feel a familiar burning on his fingertips.

His palm begins to sweat, but the Lego brick doesn’t even stir. Josh lets out a desperate sigh.

“By the way, I like your hair,” Hayley says, pressing a cottonwool to Josh’s hand and pulling the syringe with his blood out.

“You don’t have to pretend to be our friend,” Tyler points out before Josh manages to think up his simple ‘thanks.’

“I am not pretending,” Hayley replies, taking another syringe and sticking the needle into Josh’s still swollen vein without warning.

“What’s this?!” Tyler promptly begins to panic, and Josh’s body goes numb with fear.

“A sedative,” Hayley explains. “You will feel a bit drowsy, but that’s alright.”

“Okay,” Josh mutters, yanking down his sleeve. Everything is not fine, not right, but there are no needs to repeat it every second. “Just finish your work with Tyler and tell Zack to take us back to our room,” he fidgets on the table impatiently.

Hayley gives him another look full of guilt.

“Sorry to say that, but… Tyler’s situation is extraordinary, and he stays here, I need more specialists to check him out,” she says, biting her lip.

“How… What?!” Josh almost yells and gets up on his feet so quickly that the world goes black for a second; he’s forced to sit back.

“I’m sorry,” Hayley repeats.

She checks Josh’s heartbeat and blood pressure, writing something down on the clipboard; Josh closes his eyes and starts collapsing onto his side, but he feels Tyler wrapping his arms around his middle not to let him fall. He’s not _a bit_ drowsy, he’s _a lot_ drowsy, and he can’t wait for the darkness to cover him.

Josh hears Tyler talking to Hayley about something, but he’s too out of everything to recognize their words. He remembers that Hayley calls for Zack, and Josh is pretty sure Zack just throws him over his shoulder like a bag and hauls him in an unknown direction.

 

***

Somebody pokes at Josh’s cheek. Josh grunts as the reality catches him again, and he wants to slide back into a deep sleep, burying his face into the pillow. He almost falls asleep again, but there’s the knot of anxiety tightens over his guts, and his heart starts beating somewhere in his throat.

“Josh, it’s me!”

Tyler.

And they’re still in their room, Josh is almost happy about this — he hates waking up in unfamiliar places. Josh pushes himself into a sitting position, almost kicking Tyler off his bed; Tyler tries to curl the corner of his mouth into a smile but just winces instead. There’s a pretty big bruise is already blossoming on his reddened cheek.

Josh feels like he will never sleep again. He’s about to lean closer and hug Tyler, but something stops him, so he just reaches his hand and pats Tyler’s shoulder instead.   

“Where have you been?”

His paranoia is a bitch.

Though, Josh knows that Tyler expects this.

“In the office. There were Merrick, Hayley, and some people I didn’t know; they told me to strip, then they took my blood for tests, tried to scrub the ink from my marks, and then they said I’m ‘potentially dangerous’, so they kinda… Look,” Tyler tugs at the collar of his uniform and shows Josh three tiny red dots from the tips of needles on his neck. “That block-serum. The strongest dose. And I feel a bit…” he snaps his fingers, trying to pick the right word.

“High?” Josh guesses; this word describes his own condition.

“Yeah, maybe,” Tyler nods, pressing his palm to his sore cheek.

No fast-healing, no powers. Josh convinces himself it’s still just Tyler, his crazy best friend, and he doesn’t deserve this pain; Josh inspects Tyler’s injury with such an uneasy feeling.

“Merrick?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“For what this time?”

“I tripped over the box on the floor.”

“Let’s sue him?”

“Nice idea,” Tyler chuckles faintly.

Things can’t keep going this way. Josh knows that Tyler knows something but hesitates to tell him — Tyler literally bites his tongue each time Josh starts the conversation.

“Explain what kind of shit is going on between you and VESSEL,” Josh grabs the collar of Tyler’s uniform and forces him to look into his eyes.

“Do you have your own theory?” Tyler quips.

“Come on,” Josh pulls Tyler closer, almost bumping his nose against Tyler’s.

“I’ll tell you what I know, okay? Just stop,” Tyler shivers, and Josh removes his hands from his collar. “Thanks.”

“So?”

Tyler looks scared. Josh didn’t mean to make him scared.

“VESSEL hacked my system and cameras and stole all the information I found about the Contactees and UFO Incidents, all the results of _my_ investigations, pictures and audio recordings. Some of it was quite private, you know,” Tyler keeps his voice low, staring at his lap like a guilty kid. “When they received those files, I had to protect myself, so I changed my location and some codes. That didn’t help though.”

Now Josh understands VESSEL’s intentions. And there’s nothing positive about this.

“I think now they’re going to make me shut up,” Tyler utters. “But I didn’t mean to start this war, come on, I was mostly just trying to figure out what was happening to me! Some of my methods were illegal though. Oh God, all my life is illegal.”

“And Jenna…” Josh starts, but Tyler cuts him off sharply.

“We’re not talking about her, okay? I didn’t want to put her in danger. Those troubles were mine, and only mine, and I screwed everything up!”

Well, now Tyler acts like Tyler. Josh sighs and finally hugs him tightly; Tyler’s skin is burning and his body is trembling as he presses himself to Josh.

“Calm down,” Josh whispers, nuzzling Tyler’s fluffy hair. “Calm down.”

“VESSEL wanted me to work for them, but I said ‘no’, I swear! D-don’t hate me, Josh,” Tyler breaks the hug and wipes his nose on his sleeve.

He’s not crying. But maybe he’s really close to.  

“I don’t hate you, Ty.”

 

***

This day is actually the day of Tyler’s official death.

Merrick storms into their room, radiating with anger and hate, and just orders them to follow him; he mutters something about their blood tests and serum doses, and Josh thinks their captor simply went insane. The bruise on Merrick’s jaw becomes more noticeable, causing Josh to gloat.

There is Zack again, he’s waiting for them near the door, but this time he pins Tyler’s hands behind his back, and Josh is allowed to go on his own, and this is the worst case scenario. Tyler gives Josh one perplexed look as they pass through a long hallway, downstairs and into the room they’ve never been in before — there’s the glass wall with the door in it. Josh only hisses out a short ‘shit’ when Merrick grabs Tyler by the shoulders and pushes him into the small room behind the glass; there’s a chair with the black leather straps and a wooden table.

Josh thinks he is next to enter it, but Zack stops him. They’re not alone here, though; there’s that one guy — he sits at the table with a laptop in front of him. He’s wearing glasses and headphones with a small microphone. For some reason Josh decides it’s good that this guy is not in the room with Merrick and Tyler.

“Are you recording, Brendon?” surprisingly, Merrick’s voice sounds clearly from behind the glass; there’s probably a microphone or some super secret crap.

“Yeah,” the guy in glasses responds.

Actually, Josh catches himself on hating every new face he sees here — though, Brendon looks more like a nerd, not like a goon, even in this VESSEL’s grayish-green uniform. Hayley was pretty friendly too. But then she just knocked Josh out.

Josh thinks there’s no way he will ever trust anybody again.

“What are you doing?!” he cries out when Merrick straps Tyler to a chair. Tyler doesn’t even lift his head up, staring somewhere at his chest, and his apathy scares Josh more than ever in his life.

Tyler has to fight.

“What the hell are you doing?” Josh repeats, stepping forward, but Zack gets him into a headlock immediately.

“Gonna ask him questions,” Merrick spits, making sure Tyler is unable to move.

Josh scratches Zack’s forearm, and the agent removes his arm from Josh’s neck; he inhales so hard that his lungs hurt.

Meanwhile, Merrick barely holds his rage back; his eyes are dark, he clenches his fists, and he’s apparently gotten back with his desire to destroy Tyler.

“Wanna play a boss?” Tyler suddenly finds courage to look at the agent. “Come on, we all know it won’t work. What do you want from me?”

Tyler can’t control his tongue when he’s utterly terrified, and it’s exactly that case — Josh mentally tries to make him shut up.

“You sabotaged VESSEL operation, and I need to get some answers,” Merrick just says.

Josh literally opens his mouth in amazement.  He hasn’t expected Tyler’s investigations could go this far. Or Tyler was just lying to him all the time.

“Really?” Tyler raises his eyebrow. He sounds like he isn’t even interested.

“Stop pretending you don’t understand,” Merrick hisses out, placing his hand onto Tyler’s shoulder. “Do you know what happened _that_ night? That one time you two saw a spaceship? VESSEL caught an extraterrestrial signal, and our satellite was very close to- oh, come on, you got it, right?”

“No,” Tyler mutters stubbornly, but his ‘no’ is a pure ‘yes’. Oh great, it’s a crime against the government, Josh feels like he might die from a cardiac arrest right here.

Merrick chews his bottom lip, thinking.

“Your fucking system hacked and ruined our satellite! What? Wanna say you hadn’t noticed that?!” he roars.

“It was just an accident. I’m an ufologist, so it was kind of my…” Tyler shudders as Merrick keeps yelling at him.

“Bullshit! We had gotten your files; you’ve been hacking databases to reach for Contactees, to know about their Incidents, to meet them, right?” he already brings his hand up.

“Why didn’t you kill me then?” Tyler asks innocently; maybe he has nothing to lose, but Josh is still here, and his chest burns with irrational fear.

But of course Tyler doesn’t even think about him.

Josh wants to smash the glass, and he feels like his guts turn into moving snakes. And of course, agent Merrick has a gun, and he doesn’t miss a chance to demonstrate it to Tyler.

“Gun?” Tyler throws on a mask of disappointment. “I expected a blaster, at least.”

“One little ‘bang’ and your brain decorates the wall,” Merrick grabs a fistful of Tyler’s hair and yanks his head up, pressing a barrel of a gun under Tyler’s chin.

Josh is afraid to even breathe, and all what he can do is watch, burning the glass with his gaze; what was the point of separating them?!

“One little ‘b-bang’ and you lose your j-job,” Tyler gathers some strength to duck his head from the gun.

The good thing is- Merrick isn’t pulling the trigger.

“Who are you working for?”

The agent is still dangerously close to Tyler, the gun in his hand.

“Tyler Joseph?” Tyler screws his eyes shut, getting ready to take a bullet, but the gun slides back into Merrick’s pocket.

“Where are you from? _What_ are you? And what the fuck do these marks on your skin mean?”

“Do you want me to write a science fiction right now, or what? Dude, I swear I don’t remember anything,” Tyler says, wincing; his cheekbone looks purple and swollen, and he’s childishly helpless against all these straps tied all over him.

“I’m done with this shit,” Merrick exhales angrily. “Actually, I wanted to use electroshock and truth serum, but your ex-girlfriend wouldn’t like it,” he smirks.

“No,” Tyler whispers, shivering; unhealthily red blush covers his cheeks and neck. “This can’t be…”

“Come on, she told me to be nice to you,” Merrick thumps Tyler’s shoulder, and Tyler tries to hide in a cocoon of apathy again.

“She’s not h-here.”

“Correct. And she can’t protect you from my classic methods,” Merrick chuckles, rubbing his palms. “What? She was too sweet to hurt you, wasn’t she? I bet you had no idea she was just a spy, right? It would have been much better if you had agreed to cooperate with us.”

Merrick’s fist flies into Tyler’s face.

Tyler shakes his head to stay awake, a trickle of blood from his nose runs down his lips and drips onto the collar of his red uniform.

“L-liar,” he wheezes, getting few more punches.

“You didn’t want to work with us to protect your fragile love, I can’t believe you are so stupid. Hey, listen to me,” he slaps Tyler’s cheek. “And what you’ve got? You’ve lost everything: your lab, your friends, so, be a good boy and tell me everything. Don’t make me beat the shit out of you.”

“Don’t pretend this doesn’t turn you on,” Tyler mutters, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Merrick elbows him in the stomach for that.

“Just tell me where did you get that microchip and you’re free.”

“Oh God, next question, please?” Tyler groans and tries to move his shoulders but fails. “Aliens implanted it into my neck. And, have you h-heard about a thing called amnesia or you’re too stupid for this?!”

Calling Merrick stupid is a mistake.

He uses Tyler like his personal punching bag, striking blows in his ribs, solar plexus and face, and Josh can’t stand it anymore; he runs to the door, and he’s surprised Zack doesn’t try to knock him out or something like that.

“Stop!” Josh yells, knocking at the locked door so hard that his knuckles start to bleed, but he can’t cause a visible damage to the glass, leaving red smears on it.

“Merrick, stop!” Brendon behind him screams.

“He doesn’t feel the pain,” Merrick shakes his hand.

Tyler coughs up blood.

There’s only a thin layer of glass between him and Josh, and Josh grabs a chair and throws it at the glass; there’s a cobweb of cracks, but it’s not enough for Josh to get inside. He hits harder, his vision starts to fade, and for the first time in his life he’s about to commit a murder, he swears he’s going to shoot Merrick with his own gun as soon as he gets into the room.

“He feels the pain, Merrick, shit, stop, you’re gonna kill him!” Brendon shouts, adjusting the headphones and microphone and looking at the scene behind the glass.

“So what?” agent Merrick throws another punch; Tyler almost bends forward as it hits his stomach, but the black straps don’t let him keel over. “Do you feel it, betrayer?”

“I f-feel,” Tyler whispers hoarsely, his glance glued to his lap; the beads of blood keep dribbling from his nose.

“Louder,” agent Merrick orders, grabbing Tyler’s hair again and forcing him to lift his head up. “Say it out loud.”

“I f-f-feel!” Tyler cries out hysterically.

“That’s how you scream when he fucks you, yeah?” Merrick’s finger points at Josh.

The sound of the glass smashing fills up the space; through the wall of broken pieces Josh sees a reflection of someone with a blonde hair standing a few feet behind him, in the corner of the room. Tyler’s eyes widen in fright.

Josh turns away, but only sees Brendon and Zack.

“Are you envious? ‘Cuz h-he will never fuck _y-you_ ,” Tyler spits out through his clenched teeth.

And Merrick hits him again.

Josh can hear the sound of Tyler’s neck crunching.

Josh breaks into the room and tries to attack Merrick with a chair, but his weapon is too big and quite heavy which doesn’t help him in this situation; Merrick manages to catch the chair leg before it hits him and snatches it out of Josh’s hands. But Merrick doesn’t do anything when Josh runs to Tyler; Tyler’s chest raises and falls, the blood leaks from his nose and split lip, and probably the wound on his eyebrow requires stitches.

“For what?!” Josh yells, tugging at the straps, but his bloodied fingers are too shaky to loosen it. “Why did you do that to him? I swear I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“Restrain him,” Merrick orders.

Zack materializes next to him. Josh’s hands are still gripping the straps, and he thinks the agents are just going to knock him out or sedate him again, but this time it’s something different.

“Let’s go, kid,” Zack says, sighing. “We’ll take you both to your room.”

“But T-21 hasn’t told anything yet,” Merrick argues.

“Stop. Look at him, Merrick, I don’t think he can help us while he’s unconscious,” Zack replies.

Josh tries to wipe some blood from underneath Tyler’s nose, but it just keeps dribbling, and Josh tries to figure out if Tyler’s nose is broken.

“We can send him into a lab,” Merrick insists. “To inspect that shit we found in his blood.”

“Give him time to recover,” Zack responds, shaking Josh’s shoulder. “Move.”

Josh wipes his hands on his coverall, waiting till Merrick unties Tyler from the chair; then, he throws Tyler’s arm over his shoulder and tries to drag him this way, but Tyler can’t walk, so Josh helps his enemy, and they drag Tyler down the hallway together.

Merrick leaves them in the middle of their walk — he stops to talk to a young blonde woman who gives Tyler such a sad glance. Josh frowns, noticing that her eyes are a bit red and puffy, but he’s too busy holding Tyler’s body upright to ask questions. He’s pretty sure he saw her reflection in the glass wall — and if it’s what he’s thinking about, he has to stop and spit in her face, but come on, Josh is a gentleman. The blood from Tyler’s cuts keeps oozing, staining their clothes.

It’s quite distracting.

When they reach the door of their cell and Zack shoves them in, Josh wants to catch Tyler up but loses just a second — Tyler’s back hits the floor beside the bed, and he whimpers almost inaudibly. Josh crouches down next to his unconscious friend, the sight of blood and bruises on Tyler’s face brings Josh back to reality; they need a fucking medical help, and he is about to beg for the doctor’s visit.

Even though he knows all his attempts will be in vain.

Tyler gags, and Josh barely manages to roll him onto his side when he starts throwing up violently; it’s mostly water and stomach acid, and it sprays the floor, and suddenly Josh wants to cry.

“Help, please, you can’t leave us like this, please,” Josh pleads, he has no choice. Maybe, Zack has a soul.

“I’ll send someone to check him out,” Zack avoids looking at an injured Tyler, curled into the fetal position. “And mop the floor.”

With that, he turns around and just closes the door shut behind him. The sound of the padlock clicking feels like a dagger in Josh’s heart.

Tyler stirs on the floor, slowly regaining consciousness, and with great effort Josh moves him away from the puddle of vomit.

“Oh God,” Tyler mutters, hiccupping. “Merrick will kill me…”

“He almost did,” Josh replies, his angry tears are about to spill. “Hey, let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

“I c-can’t get up,” Tyler covers his face with his hands.

“Just sit up?” Josh offers, helping Tyler lean his back against the side of the bed.

Josh leaves him alone only for a minute — to take some paper towels from the bathroom and some water in a plastic cup. Tyler is fully awake now, he pulls his knees to his chest and just sits like this, eyes red and bloodshot. Josh feels his pain like he always does, that throbbing sensation is spreading across his body, paralyzing his limbs.

They need a band-aid, at least. And some ice.

Josh sighs and starts cleaning the mess. 

“I’m really sorry about this,” Tyler looks at the puke on the floor and winces. “Sometimes I just forget that I feel sick.”

“Stop apologizing,” Josh throws a bunch of crumpled towels into a trash can. It’s not the first time he’s dealing with Tyler’s vomit.

Tyler rolls his eyes and groans again, and Josh thinks he has to tell him something extremely stupid. Just to distract him.

“Will you feel better if I say that I got hella carsick and threw up in my girlfriend’s car on our date?” Josh tries, but Tyler only shrugs.

“Not really.”

“…and I was like twenty, it was her father’s car actually, and we’d never met since that.”

“Was it your asexual girlfriend?” Tyler looks a bit interested.

“No, it was my ‘Look-Mom-I-am-straight’ girlfriend,” Josh smirks.

“Oh, you’re terrible.”

“Thanks.”

Tyler keeps licking the cut on his swollen lip when Josh washes the blood off his face; his nose is badly bruised, but not broken, at least. He’s gonna get a huge blackeye though.

Josh manages to wipe the most of blood and vomit off their clothes — the fabric of their coveralls cleans easily, what the luck.

Tyler is alive, but he doesn’t look like he is, and it hurts more than getting shot. Josh would like to take a thousand bullets only to see Tyler’s smile, to see him _living._

But Tyler just confirms all of Josh’s brand new fears.

“Did you see her?” Tyler asks, and Josh just nods in response. He doesn’t need to clarify that, but Tyler finishes the sentence. “That blonde girl in the c-corner. It-t was Jenna.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just realized that chapters 9-10 and the 1st part of 11th are telling about just one day?! i have to do something with the time in this story  
> \---  
> so, writing the explanation takes much longer than i expected, if i've already missed something you can tell me about this! idk, i have a huge headcanon of this story and i think my plan gets bigger. well, we'll see! <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler looks oddly normal, but _normal_ Tyler is not Josh’s Tyler.

“Tyler?”

Josh knows he won’t get an answer. Tyler hasn’t moved in nearly an hour, and now he’s still lying curled into himself and facing the wall. Maybe he’s sleeping, Josh thinks; it would be good for him, honestly.

“Tyler?” Josh tries again.

There’s a wet sniffle coming from the side of Tyler’s bed, and it’s Josh’s turn to pace the room anxiously. Though, he finds some peace of mind as he sits down onto the edge of Tyler’s squeaky bed (Josh can’t just go and lay down onto his own bed — he’s just unable to fall asleep without Tyler by his side).

“We’re going to be okay.”

Tyler sighs in response like he’s going to say something, but his pessimism chokes his unreleased words again. Josh hates himself for thinking Tyler was just a betrayer, this feeling is just poisoning the blood in his veins now, and he almost wants to feel more physical pain to forget about waging war between them and VESSEL.

Then, he hears Tyler’s stomach growling.

“Hungry?” Josh asks, trying to look at Tyler’s face, but Tyler doesn’t let him, burying his nose into the pillow.

“A little,” he finally replies.

Josh reaches his hand to touch Tyler’s cheek — it feels hot and a little sweaty, and Tyler’s probable sickness is something Josh would prefer never to deal with.

“How are you feeling?” with this question, Josh guesses he’s a terrible boyfriend.

Tyler shrugs and sniffles again. He doesn’t look like he’s had just almost gotten killed, beaten up to death, but the trashcan in the corner of the room is full of paper towels soaked in his blood and vomit. It smells, and it kind of kills Josh’s hunger, but not completely — his insides burn; they definitely should go get some food.

Josh is still waiting for ‘somebody’ to come and check Tyler out.

Josh curses himself for being a coward — scratch that — he curses himself for pretty much everything: for bothering Tyler, for getting him into the deepest shit he’s ever been. He can’t see that, but he knows Tyler has nasty bruises all over his ribs and chest and stomach, and Josh is about to ask him to unzip his coverall.

“What’s next?” Tyler carefully sits up, putting his hands between his legs.

And Josh literally shudders at the sound of Tyler’s voice — it’s blank and lifeless, without stuttering or familiar intonation; Josh struggles to admit that Tyler is broken completely, that torturing erased all the little details that were belonging only to Tyler — his a bit crooked smile, those high-pitched notes in his voice.

If Tyler is about to give up, then Josh is obliged to fight for both of them. He swears he’s going to bring Tyler back to normal life.

He’s going to have nightmares about VESSEL and about a bleeding Tyler tied up to a chair, the sounds of punches and Tyler’s helpless screaming.

The bridge of Tyler’s nose looks blue, with a sick bruise sliding under his left eye, the corner of Tyler’s mouth is a mess — Josh couldn’t wash all the blood off, and there are some crimson stains painting Tyler’s chin. This time he’s going to make it through all the stages of recovery. Josh already misses Tyler’s healing abilities.

Tyler looks oddly normal, but _normal_ Tyler is not Josh’s Tyler.

“What if we’re gonna die here?” Tyler asks, staring at his knees; his sharp kneecaps are almost ripping the fabric of his coverall — Josh isn’t sure but it seems like Tyler is losing weight.

Without food and medical help they’re definitely going to die here.

“Stop it,” Josh clenches his teeth not to start yelling at Tyler for saying such horrifying things at a time like this.

“I’d like to say something Merrick would like to h-hear, but I can’t! Jesus, what if he’s going to keep on beating the shit out of me?” Tyler is visibly shaking, Josh can feel his fear. “What if Jenna is going to kill me? Jenna…” Tyler breathes her name out, wincing.

Josh’s anger and desperation form a lump in his throat, it’s hard to swallow it down; he can’t imagine his Tyler had been living with that girl for such a long time, with a traitor who was only interested in Tyler’s uniqueness.

“Wanna talk about it?” Josh offers; they haven’t talked about Jenna much, but Josh already hates these conversations.

“Wanna kill myself.”

Tyler lets out a small laughter as he says so.

“You know, it was funny. Cutting, I mean; wrists and thighs, small red lines, and like ten minutes later my skin was normal again,” Tyler huffs and tries to smile without any reason. “I couldn’t check the damage even; it’s like being a whore all night but waking up a virgin again — that’s why I got my wrist tattooed,” Tyler’s finger points at the three thin lines above his palm. “It’s like a symbol, it shows what I can do to myself, and I liked to cut the skin there until J-Jenna noticed it and asked me to stop, so- I don’t know. It’s my favorite mark, because it’s not from Space like the others.”

Josh was wrong with his suspicions that Tyler stopped being weird. His speech is slurred, there’s almost no logic in his incoherent words, but if this means Tyler is going to get back to self-harm, Josh swears he’s going to spank him right now.

Tyler has a real tattoo dedicated to his past self-harm attempts, wonderful.

“I didn’t know this tattoo was like a normal tattoo,” Josh forces himself to ignore Tyler’s fresh confessions. Josh doesn’t remember seeing that sign gleaming earlier.

“It is,” Tyler nods, poking the lines with his a bit bloody fingernail.

“I just…” Josh starts coughing as these words hurt his vocal chords. “I can’t believe you were one of those kids who can’t fall asleep without… You know…”

“Without sticking a razorblade into their hands? I’m not gonna do that again,” Tyler whispers, rolling up his sleeve and inspecting the hieroglyphs on his forearm.

“What?”

“You’re radiating with f-fear,” Tyler bites his lip, immediately regretting that and licking the blood from the open cut.

“Because your stories are weird.”

“I’m not suicidal if you can’t find the guts to ask,” Tyler smirks and presses his finger to his mouth to stop the bleeding.

“Just stop talking about suicide, please!” Josh explodes with anger. “We don’t know where it leads to, and you just keep talking about your failed attempts, seriously?! Dude, I’m glad you’re alive and sit beside me, just please-” Josh quickly wipes the wetness in the corner of his eye. “Fuck, Ty, I’m sorry. I always think I can save you, but you keep talking about this shit, and it hurts.”

He leans closer to Tyler to hug him, but Tyler doesn’t hug him back. He turns away, staring at the sickeningly grey wall.

“I’m tired.”

“Me too,” Josh exhales sharply.

“But your family loves you, you are a human, Josh. And VESSEL doesn’t want to lock you in a laboratory,” a heavy sigh tears Tyler’s chest apart.

“What do you mean?”

“This is the end.”

“We still can talk to the agents,” Josh offers.

Tyler only chuckles at that.

“Talk? Oh, come on, look at me- I tried to talk to Merrick, it was the best conversation in my life!”

It’s too late to put an icepack over Tyler’s blackeye, Josh can already see it turning into a purple mess spreading across Tyler’s cheek.

Tyler’s stomach growls again, and he presses his palm to it.

“Shit,” he mutters.

Josh isn’t sure if he’s still hungry. Mostly, he doesn’t care. His imagination plays bad tricks on him, and he can’t stop thinking of Tyler sitting on the bathroom floor and pushing a razorblade into his wrist, watching the blood dribble from the cuts. This just can’t be real.

“I’m gonna call somebody,” Josh decides; he’s about to get up from the bed, but Tyler catches up his sleeve and stops him. “What? You need some painkillers and food, at least!”

“It won’t stay down, do you enjoy cleaning my puke off your clothes or what?” Tyler responds, shooting Josh a death glare.

“You should eat something,” Josh rolls his eyes. But he can’t deny the fact he’s glad that Tyler bristles at his words — stubborn Tyler is his Tyler.

“But I’m still feeling sick,” Tyler leans his shoulder against the wall and closes his eyes.

Tyler always presses the right buttons.

“Alright,” Josh says calmly. “Let’s just sit and wait.”

 

***

The door opens with a little creak, breaking the silence; Josh expects to see Zack or Merrick or maybe Hayley, but when the person comes in and shows their face Josh almost passes out.

She has a blonde hair, she’s dressed in a strict suit with a white shirt and black skirt, and she pushes a grocery trolley in front of her.

Josh’s palms begin to sweat when Jenna waves at him.

“Ty, wake up,” Josh shakes his friend’s shoulder.

Tyler blinks sleepily, but then his eyes focus on the girl, and his face turns pale even underneath the layers of tan; he’s a ball of nervousness — he shifts on the mattress and almost falls.

“No,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. “Go away.”

“I can explain everything,” Jenna says. She’s already in the middle of the room, and Josh isn’t sure why he’s so afraid of a fragile girl.

“Go away,” Tyler repeats, pressing himself to the wall and trying to make himself as small as possible.

“I came here to help,” Jenna responds, moving closer to them.

“Help?! Kidnapping us isn’t a help!” Tyler groans.

“Tyler, you have to believe me,” she starts, but Josh cuts her off abruptly.

“We don’t want to see you here, please, go away,” he blurts out.

“Fine,” Jenna sighs and purses her lips. “I know how much you guys hate me, but give me a minute at least? I swear no one is going to touch you anymore.”

Josh isn’t going to believe. He’s not that stupid.

“You’re one of them,” Tyler spits furiously, lifting his head up and looking straight in Jenna’s eyes.

“I am. But I’m here to protect you,” Jenna gestures at Josh to give her some space on the bed they’re sitting on.

Josh doesn’t want her to sit with them, but he moves a little so Jenna can squeeze herself between him and Tyler.

“Tell that to my bruises,” Tyler bites the inside of his cheek.

“I have some meds, and also food, and I can bring you everything you need,” Jenna rummages through the packs in the trolley.

“Give us the key and guns then,” Josh huffs mockingly.

“It’s impossible,” Jenna deadpans.

“Thanks for ‘helping’ us, go away,” Tyler rolls his eyes.

“…I can’t give you the key, but I can show you where the exit is,” Jenna raises her eyebrow, a hint of smile plays on her lips.

“Oh great, my heart is melting,” Tyler grumbles, and Josh chuckles nervously.

“Wanna push us to another trap?” he assumes.

“No! Jesus, no!” Jenna touches Tyler’s injured cheek. He shudders as her finger runs over the swollen spot. “This was a terrible mistake, Merrick shouldn’t have done that at all, I was in a lab when that happened.”

“When _what_ happened, Jen?” Tyler croaks out, tilting his head to avoid a contact with Jenna’s hand. “When Mark almost killed Josh? When Merrick strapped me to a chair? Or when your dumbass friends caught me and I woke up in a hospital with two of my ribs broken?”

Jenna doesn’t say anything. Josh thinks Tyler is about to go into hysterics again; he keeps bombarding Jenna with questions.

“Years ago, do you remember? Have you been testing me all that time?”

“It was just an accident!” Jenna shouts.

“And when you broke your finger?” Tyler asks.

“That was a test. I had to understand how you were doing that,” Jenna looks down at her forefinger with a perfectly painted crimson nail.

“Understand? That’s why you blocked our powers?” Tyler sneers.

Josh has almost forgotten how his telekinesis feels like.

“I tried to save you. VESSEL was supposed to deactivate you since your first day on Earth, but I volunteered to watch after you and show them you’re not dangerous,” Jenna tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “And you weren’t dangerous, Tyler. Your investigations were.”

She keeps glancing at her skirt, but Josh notices a faint pink blush on her cheeks and on the tip of her nose, and Jenna looks pretty much like she’s going to cry. If Merrick was a bad cop, then Jenna has all the chances to be a good one. Hopefully.

“It seems like you know about me more than I do,” Tyler says.

“Probably,” Jenna sighs.

Maybe, she’s just a good actress. She’s out of Josh’s circle of trust anyway.

“How did you manage to fake a UFO appearance?” Josh asks, scratching his chin. He definitely needs to shave.

“A hologram,” Jenna avoids looking into Josh’s eyes, and he knows why. “Mark is a good sniper, but he promised to shoot… your shoulder.”

“He’s a terrible shooter,” Josh groans, still feeling the ghost of pain striking through his abdomen.

“He did that on purpose,” Jenna bites her lip.

Josh’s brain pictures that puddle of his own blood spreading on the asphalt, a sharp ache and a bullet inside of him. Being alive after that is a miracle.  

“Can’t you just bring our powers back?” Tyler taps his fingers on his knee impatiently.

“I’m sorry,” Jenna lowers her head again.

Tyler nods.

“I’m sorry,” Jenna repeats stubbornly.

“I heard you.”

Jenna stares at him for a second, and then just falls on Tyler’s chest, nuzzling his shoulder and hugging him tightly.

“I swear I’ll help you get out of here,” Jenna’s voice muffled by the fabric of Tyler’s coverall. “No one will hurt you.”

“Who am I?” Tyler changes the subject, gently pushing Jenna away.

“I don’t…”

“Who is he?” Josh promptly takes Tyler’s side.

Jenna rummages through the items in the trolley again; she takes a band-aid, tissues and a small bottle with hydrogen peroxide and turns to Tyler again.

“An alien, isn’t it obvious?” Jenna pours the disinfectant onto the tissue and reaches for Tyler’s injured eyebrow.

Tyler sucks his busted lip before taking a tissue from Jenna’s hand; she tries to wipe the clotted blood from the cut, but Tyler doesn’t let her do that. Josh admits Tyler didn’t refuse when Josh was cleaning his injuries. That somehow warms his heart up.

“An alien,” Tyler tastes the word, thinking. “That’s why everyone wants to kill me?”

Jenna’s blue eyes become even sadder than before.

“Not everyone,” she responds, watching the trail of blood sliding down Tyler’s temple.

“Oh, really?” Josh says sarcastically. “Your agents won’t stop beating him up since they’d dragged us here, and you know what? Merrick decided to be a god of justice, oh wait- you’ve been there, right?” Josh’s anger suffocates him. “But you didn’t stop him, Jenna, you could’ve stopped it! What? Wanna say you’re sorry?”

She wasn’t there when Josh was taking the implant out of Tyler’s almost rotting neck, she wasn’t there when Josh was dying, and she even wasn’t there a couple hours ago when Tyler was spewing his stomach’s contents all over the floor and Josh’s hands.

And Josh hates her for that.

Jenna takes this hit.

“I know. I couldn’t show my feelings, and Tyler…”

“Enough,” Tyler sounds a bit nasally, because he’s pinching his nostrils again. Josh thinks his frequent nosebleeds become a problem for both of them. “I thought you were going to tell me what did you want from me?”

“You’re an alien, she wants to take your snot-stained tissue and send it to the lab, of course,” Josh smirks mockingly.

He’s pretty sure Jenna wants to slap him; she raises her hand up even, but just clenches her fist and drops it onto her lap.

“But honestly, I think aliens just _created_ him,” Jenna finally says to Josh. “This makes more sense since we don’t have much information about aliens, and Tyler is definitely not a human.”

“Great, now you’re talking about me like I’m not here? Go get a room for you two,” Tyler snarls.

This is so stupid.

“You are supposed to control all the Contactees, to observe them,” Jenna squeezes the words out of her throat.     

“So… Am I a spy?!” Tyler smirks, fidgeting on the bed.

“Oh yes, you are,” Jenna nods. “Are you surprised?”

“Kind of. But my brain, um, doesn’t work right?” Tyler frowns, rubbing his forehead.

“You don’t remember your past because you have no past,” Jenna sighs sadly. “I actually have a theory, so just please listen to me. You’ve been programmed to control the Contactees and you did it well — you’d met them, got your marks to identify them, started your journal, and everything was perfectly fine. But Contactees can’t keep their mouths shut, right? And journalists believe them sometimes, right?”

Josh can’t help but nods in agreement, his stomach churns with such an uneasy feeling. Tyler looks like he starts to understand Jenna’s train of thought, he’s just waiting for her to continue.

“But things can’t go well all the time. Some of the Contactees shared their impressions, some of them started getting their powers, and that would’ve been more than just strange for Earth, so your creators’ kind of… Re-programmed you with that microchip, they gave you a Mission you’ve been struggling to perform,” Jenna places her hand onto Tyler’s shaking knee. “A murderer with Bambi’s eyes.”

Something clicks in Josh’s head, the cogs he’s missed; his heart races, and he wants to wake up from this horrible dream, he wants to get back to his previous life, to his _normal_ relationship with Tyler.

Tyler was sent here like a killer, but he wasn’t a killer, he has _healing powers_ , he didn’t do anything bad, right? Tyler opens his still a bit bleeding mouth and begins to speak.

“Tyler, no,” Josh tries, playing nervously with the zipper of his coverall.

VESSEL knows everything about them, they know about Josh’s Experience and about his powers, and it means Josh was one of the Contactees of the Highest Level, and he should be dead.

“But I…” Tyler tosses the formerly white tissue onto the mattress. “I didn’t want to k-kill people! I heard voices, and I’ve been receiving those messages, but… you don’t know how that felt,” Tyler almost whispers. “Especially when I helped Josh to heal a scald, I thought that thing in my neck had been trying to kill me for f-fighting!”

“Tyler, shut up,” Josh mutters through his clenched teeth.

“I’ve only met seven people,” Tyler says, scratching the back of his head. “When that marking-thing started, I thought I had an epileptic seizure, sometimes I’m still getting nightmares about getting my first marks.”

Jenna probably remembers Tyler’s first marking; she presses her fist to her lips, swallowing hard and then uttering such a faithful words.

“You belong to VESSEL, Tyler.”

Josh presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, seeing fireworks behind his eyelids and groaning.  

“And you came here to say how much you’re sorry about Tyler being trapped in VESSEL’s lab?”

“I came here to save you both!”

“And that’s why you’re screaming about it?” Tyler asks ironically. “Let’s call Merrick maybe? I’m sure he has a huge crush on me.”

Jenna rolls her eyes in irritation.

“I have a plan,” she gets up from the bed quickly.

“What plan?” Josh is too tired to start bitching about that.

“I can’t tell you right now. For your own good, by the way,” Jenna replies.

Tyler gives her a sour smile.

“Kick Merrick in the balls, please,” he huffs.

Jenna doesn’t promise him that.

“Take care of yourself,” she tousles Tyler’s hair, and it looks so sickeningly sweet that Josh winces.

“Oh, don’t touch me.”

Right. Josh snaps his fingers.

“I’m not a villain,” Jenna assures.

“Let’s talk about that when we’re out of this prison?” Josh offers. He still wants Jenna to disappear. But they now have food and meds, at least.

“I’ll do everything to set you free,” Jenna repeats, heading to the door and taking a trashcan. “Josh. Make him eat and take painkillers. Tyler. Don’t refuse, don’t try to overdose, and don’t try to do anything you want to do.”

Apparently, she knows Tyler really well.

Tyler puts two of his fingers to his temple like a barrel of a gun, mouthing a ‘pow!’ and Josh chuckles nervously. This time he has to be a babysitter.

 

***

When Jenna leaves, Josh starts picking the items out of the grocery trolley — there are pills, tubes with gel, two toothbrushes, toothpaste, two grey towels, tissues and soap, some burgers wrapped into a foil and cartons of juice.

They eat in silence, Tyler takes the pills obediently and then Josh smears a transparent gel over the bruises on his face — it’s a cold substance, and Josh shrugs and uses it on his still aching jaw.

Maybe it will help them to recover.

Tyler’s eyebrow and nose eventually stop bleeding, his body doesn’t reject the food, and Josh has a faint hope that things are getting a bit better.

“Do you believe her?”

They’re sitting on the bed again, Tyler’s toes pressed to Josh’s thigh.

“I don’t know,” Tyler shrugs.

He sounds like he really doesn’t care, and it sends nasty spikes of terror through Josh’s brain; he’s afraid of pretty much everything: of Tyler’s stories, of him getting back to his experiments, and Josh is about to follow Tyler during his trip to the bathroom.

When Tyler gets back to the room, he smells like mint, his hair is slightly damp, and Josh convinces himself he wasn’t trying to catch every Tyler’s movement from behind the door. He’s worried of fucking everything, he’s on the edge, and he feels like one wrong word may kill the remains of his optimism he tries to save for the hardest days.

But Tyler doesn’t say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay, i was at p!atd show and was hella nervous before and after, oops  
> \---  
> can't believe i started this with just delivery guy/ufologist, well, i had plans, but didn't expect i'll write something really big  
> \---  
> thanks oh_ms_omegalomaniac for the beta!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you know about powers?” Josh wants to control it, but these words just slide off his tongue.
> 
> “Sorry?”
> 
> “Tyler,” Josh only rolls his eyes when Tyler turns away from him. “Better tell me everything before the agents will try to destroy us with lasers.”
> 
> Even after all the shit they’ve been going through, Tyler is the most stubborn guy Josh has ever known.

Josh is sure his family knows he has a lot of problems. He imagines his cellphone buzzing and ringing in his apartment, but with no one picking it up; he imagines how his Mom calls him, then his Dad, Jordan, Ashley and Abby, but there’s no result.

He feels how terrified they are. They haven’t talked in nearly a week.

Maybe, Josh’s parents have already called the police.

Josh thinks he has to ask Jenna for one call home; if she really wants to help them, she should start with some little things.

But for some reason he can’t talk to her about anything when Jenna shows up in the doorframe; Josh is waiting for something like _‘come on, I’ll show you the exit’_ like she promised, but she only brings them the food, checks their healing injuries and leaves. Sometimes, she touches Tyler’s bruised cheek or his split eyebrow, but Tyler always tries to duck his head like a little kid who had gotten into a fight at school.

It looks like Jenna is going to scold him, but she keeps silent.

The silence is too loud.

Especially when there are only two of them.

Josh thinks he has to upgrade his social skills.

“Let’s talk about something?” Josh offers, and Tyler gives him a perplexed glance.

“About what?”

Nice question. It’s not like they don’t have any things to talk about — their previous problems and dreams are just too stupid in comparison with all this VESSEL-situation.

“What are we going to do, well, in future?” Josh asks.

“I dunno. I’m gonna write a book about my adventures,” Tyler smirks.

“Cool, then I’m going to film a movie based on your book,” Josh almost starts to laugh, but his chest hurts as he realizes that they are still just laboratory rats here, and the door might fly open at any second and that shit might start again.

“Yeah, we’re gonna be a great team,” Tyler agrees.

Tyler rubs his cheek with his palm, sighing; the bruise is still pretty bright, but now it looks like a green and yellow shapeless spot. Josh thinks the bruise on his jaw looks similarly, but he can’t check it out. There are no any mirrors here.  

“What?” Tyler asks. He doesn’t like when Josh stares at him — Josh knows it since the day they met.

But Josh is worried, he can’t lie.

“How are you feeling?”

“Gonna ask this every three minutes?”

“So rude.”

Tyler forces himself for a faint smile in response.

“I’ll survive. What about you?”

Josh taps his fingers on the mattress.

“I’m gonna be okay.”

Josh is definitely not going to be okay without Tyler.

“What do you know about powers?” Josh wants to control it, but these words just slide off his tongue.

“Sorry?”

“Tyler,” Josh only rolls his eyes when Tyler turns away from him. “Better tell me everything before the agents will try to destroy us with lasers.”

Even after all the shit they’ve been going through, Tyler is the most stubborn guy Josh has ever known. He dissects the information to the tiniest pieces and hides them somewhere in his brain, and this doesn’t make the situation less dangerous. This doesn’t help him get out of this room either.

“It’s just a side effect of the Contact,” Tyler mutters, voice hoarse.

“It’s just _what?!_ ”

“Such a rare case. Like, I found articles about two people with powers- one of them had a pyrokinesis, and the other was being able to kill any living things with his t-touches,” Tyler coughs a bit, and Josh is sure he blushes.

“Where did you find that?” Josh frowns.

He already has some suspicions.

“In VESSEL’s archive,” Tyler sighs, giving up. “Just some mentions of that.”

“Oh, that makes sense why Merrick was craving to see your brain smeared all over the wall,” Josh says.

“Dude, it was like forty years ago, Merrick hadn’t even been born!” Tyler tries to defend himself desperately as if Josh is going to judge him.

“Is it too late to say ‘you shouldn’t have done that’?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Tyler shrugs.

“So. You know some information no one is supposed to know, theoretically we have some weird side-effects, and you’re not a human. Dude, I love this life!” Josh chuckles nervously.

What a great time to know something new. Education is life, Josh thinks bitterly.

“You’re telling me! And actually I know some facts about VESSEL experiments, but they’re mostly rumors I heard from the Contactees. I have never met anyone with powers — except you — but I heard those people were vaccinated with different serums and then kinda… died,” Tyler winces as he says so.

They died. Of course.

“Was that the result of the experiment?” Josh asks cautiously.

“That dude with pyrokinesis tried to burn down the lab, I think the agents had to r-restrain him! Their experiments’ weren’t detailed though. I think they have some descriptions in their offices, but we’re not going to research, are we?”

Tyler scratches the back of his head while Josh’s brain tries not to explode from the amount of information.

“It’s so fucking sad,” Josh admits.

“And we know how that serum works. So, everything is a lot sadder than you think.”

Tyler is terrible at keeping the spirit up.

“You’re so optimistic, I love you,” Josh says.

Tyler just sticks his tongue out at him.

For some reason Josh thinks it’s sexy.

 

***

The next day, Merrick visits them for the first time since Tyler’s beating.

Josh pretends his heart isn’t going to break his ribcage.

Things are getting bad again. It’s not like everything was perfect before, but it’s just weird. Jenna said Merrick wasn’t going to come to them.

Tyler wriggles and steps onto Merrick’s foot when he tries to drag him off the bed.

Josh pushes him away from Tyler, but it looks like Merrick isn’t going to hit him.

“What do you want from us?” Josh grumbles.

“I need to take T-21 to the operator’s room, Brendon needs his help,” Merrick responds, reaching his hand to Tyler.

“I did some stupid crap, got punished for that, can you _please_  not touch me anymore? Like never?” Tyler groans, slapping Merrick’s forearm. “Thank you!” he adds sarcastically when Merrick removes his hand from his shoulder.

“You’re dumb,” Merrick smirks.

“Oh great, that’s why you’re asking for my help? I’m dumb, come on, leave me alone and let me die in peace!” Tyler huffs, and Josh can feel his blood boiling.

“Tell the operator he can go fuck himself,” Josh spits.

Merrick ignores him.

“Object- Tyler,” Merrick corrects himself when Tyler and Josh both glare at him. “There’s something important. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

But Tyler keeps being Tyler.

“I’m not gonna do anything for your fucking VESSEL, I’ve said that before, and I’m saying it again- really, I don’t give a shit about what’s going on, so please fuck off,” Tyler crosses his arms over his chest.

Merrick pulls the gun out of his pocket.

Tyler throws his head back with the loudest moan Josh has ever heard from him.

“No, Mister I-want-to-be-a-boss, don’t do it, I’m s-scared!” he raises his hands up.

Well, if this cliché thing with a gun isn’t working on Tyler, it’s still working on Josh. He guesses he’s got a psychological trauma or something like that, and now he kind of feels like fainting when he sees a gun.

But Tyler doesn’t care.

Tyler is an asshole.

But then Josh notices a flash of blonde hair on the background — Jenna peeks into the room for a millisecond — and Tyler probably notices it too, because his voice cracks, and his sassiness is gone without a trace.  

Josh hates seeing how much Jenna’s presence changes Tyler’s behavior.

“Al-lright, I’m going,” he utters without any confidence.

“Let’s go,” Merrick nods, leading Tyler out of the room.

Josh follows them with such an uneasy feeling.

There are some doors and corridors, some faceless people on their way, and Josh wonders if there are any other _objects_ like him and Tyler. What if they’re going to spend the rest of their lives here?

“But what happened?” Josh asks when the three of them walk down the hallway and then downstairs to the open glass door.

Merrick doesn’t even turn to him.

“We caught a signal, and it’s destroying our fucking equipment, move!” he barks, pushing Tyler into the office.

Hesitating, Josh walks in after them and sees different computers on tables, there is Brendon in his VESSEL uniform, and Zack is standing near the door; Josh hears some shrill beeping sound coming from the speakers.

“Did you register that?” Merrick grabs Brendon by the shoulders, and the operator almost drops his headphones.

“Yeah,” he nods, adjusting his glasses. “But, um, I guess there’s some kind of virus, and I’m trying to figure it out, but we’ve lost like 5% of our files, so…”

“A virus?” Merrick scowls.

Tyler rolls his eyes and sighs loudly.

“It’s not a virus. They’re protecting their spaceships, so you will never be able to just catch their radiowaves with your antennas. You h-have to give something in return,” Tyler says, pointing his finger at the monitor.

The numbers change, there’s 6% now.

“Aliens are stealing your information,” Josh chuckles.

He’s kind of proud of those little green men.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

“Can you stop it?” Merrick glances at Tyler helplessly.

“Yes, I just have to use a virtual key,” Tyler shrugs.

“Do you know… do you know that key?” Brendon asks, hitting some buttons on the keyboard, but the beeping only grows louder.

Josh knows it’s not a good sign, these sounds remind him of their Contact, and he shudders at the memories of how painful it was.

“ _I am_ that key,” Tyler deadpans.

Merrick opens his mouth to say something, but Tyler doesn’t let him.

“I need everyone to leave the room. Everyone, come on, get out, don’t distract me, go, go,” he literally pushes Brendon off his computer chair and shows Merrick to the door.

“Come on,” Merrick takes Josh’s upper arm.

“Josh stays here,” Tyler says firmly.

Josh looks at the monitor. Seven percents.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Luckily, everyone in the room obeys Tyler.

Tyler sighs again and puts the headphones on; Josh feels uncomfortable standing behind Tyler’s back even though Tyler doesn’t pay much attention on him. Josh just walks across the office, once, twice, while Tyler stares at the computer screen and mumbles something under his breath.

Josh doesn’t want to touch anything in this room, because he has no clue how dangerous it might be.

He loses the count of time, and he really wants to help Tyler with something.

But then the beeping stops being so loud.

Tyler makes a lot of anxious movements: he bites and sucks his lips, scratches his chin, presses something on the keyboard again, and when Josh finally finds the guts to look at the computer screen, he only sees a black system window with white hieroglyphs.

Josh even tries to read something between the lines but fails.

And there’s no beeping sound anymore.

Then, Tyler smiles.

“Take it slow,” he mutters.

“What?” Josh gives him a puzzled glance.

“I’ve just deciphered the signal. It’s a m-message- ‘take it slow’,” Tyler replies, stretching his arms and rubbing his knuckles.

Josh’s daily routine is more interesting than agent Mulder’s workdays.

“Are you going to share this with the agents?” Josh looks at the diagrams on the screen; he’d seen something similar in Tyler’s travel trailer.

“I have no choice,” Tyler gets up from the chair and goes to the door. “Merrick? Come here.”

Merrick looks a little pale as he comes in, his hands shaking, and he doesn’t look so scary anymore.

“Did you stop the process?” he asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Yes. You received a message, it says ‘take it slow’, and I swear I don’t know what that means,” Tyler raises his hands up protectively when Merrick takes a step at his side.

And Josh’s nervousness overwhelms him again. But this time, he can’t hold his rage back.

“Stop hunting poor aliens! Stop hunting us!” he shouts, hitting Merrick in his face and then grabbing the collar of his uniform.

Josh shoves him away, pressing Merrick’s back against the wall.

His lip is bleeding, and for some reason Josh wants to see more blood, _he needs it_ , he has to stand up for Tyler, and he brings his fist up again. He hates his man. Hates him for having Tyler’s blood on his hands, for bringing so much pain, for being the agent of such a terrible organization, for everything-

“Guys?”

Brendon. Shit.

“We’re leaving,” Tyler croaks out at the same time when Merrick pushes Josh away and dabs at his lip.

Josh breathes out through his nose, glaring at Merrick and wishing he could just strike him down there and then. He’s so angry he can’t breathe normally.

“Josh.”

Josh feels Tyler’s hand on his shoulder and unclenches his fist. Maybe, he’s not strong enough for starting a real fight in VESSEL building. Maybe, he doesn’t want to ruin anything, and he clings to Jenna’s words even though he denies that.

“You can go, Zack will guide you,” Merrick says, watching how Brendon sits back on the chair in front of the computer.

“We’ve only lost 8%,” Brendon concludes.

Josh wishes they’d lost everything.

He wishes a fucking bomb had destroyed this corporation. A tidal wave. The invasion of the mutant rats. A laser from the spaceship, at least.

He hated aliens for implanting a microchip into Tyler’s neck, but now Josh can say he hates VESSEL much more than anything in his life. Just for its existing.

He knows Merrick can just snatch a gun and pull the trigger.

But Merrick just goes to talk to Brendon instead.

“We need to go,” Tyler whispers, taking Josh’s hand and pushing him to the door slightly.

When they go out of the operator’s office, Zack is nowhere to be found.

Josh’s fingers hurt a little, but it’s not enough for the satisfaction, he’d like to fight until his knuckles turn blue, and even then it wouldn’t have been enough.

“It’s disgusting,” Josh says as they walk through the maze of hallways, trying to find their cell.

“What are you talking about?” Tyler throws his hand over Josh’s shoulder, and Josh leans to his friend as the sudden wave of dizziness hits him.

“Just. Everything.”

Josh feels dirty.

The disgusting feeling of guilt sticks to his clammy skin, and it will probably never go away, and he wants to set his mind free, but Josh is not sure if his mind still belongs to him.

Tyler keeps rambling something about the Signal and about the Message, but Josh just can’t recognize his words, and his thoughts keep swirling inside his head.

“…and so, I just thought I had to be a ‘good prisoner’ you know?..”

Tyler will never be a good prisoner.

Josh can’t quit thinking.

Josh can’t believe they are just roaming VESSEL building like this, and no one tries to catch or stop them anymore.

They’re forced to stop in the middle of the stairs, almost kicking somebody off their feet. Josh mostly stares at the floor, but the faint smell of a flower perfume makes him lift his pounding head up.

“Jenna?”

“Yeah, I…” she tiredly rubs her temple. “I want to talk to you. About our plan, and about…” she pauses. “You helped us.”

Tyler only smirks in response.

“I did that only because I didn’t want to get my ass kicked once again, I’m not okay with that, you know,” he says sarcastically.

“Thank you,” Jenna obviously wants to say something else, but cuts herself off.

The leftover anger is still burning Josh’s chest.

“What about your plan? Gonna say ‘not today’ again?”

“I’m working on it, it’s not that easy, Josh,” she replies calmly.

“Of course.”

Josh wants to be polite, really, but he’s sick of everything — he’s sick of their stuffy cell, he’s sick of Tyler’s bad mood, he’s sick of that crappy food they’re eating.

He’s homesick, and if Tyler hasn’t had a proper home for forever, it doesn’t mean Josh must feel the same, right?

Josh wishes he could sound rough.

“Can we like, go back to our little sweet cell?” he mumbles instead, failing at being cynic.

He doesn’t remember being in this part of the building earlier, and he’s pretty sure they got lost. Or maybe Jenna was just trying to find them.

“Actually I want to offer you something? It may sound stupid, but do you guys want to, um, take a shower? Shave?” she gives them a questioning glance.

It’s a weird offer, indeed. But taking ‘showers’ in the sink with only cold water is not fun.

“No,” Josh shakes his head.

“Yes,” Tyler says at the same time.

“So?” Jenna tugs the sleeves of her white shirt down.

“We’re going,” Tyler decides. Josh just huffs. “Come on, we’re going to use Jenna’s plan, I think we should start with the mutual trust.”

“Incredible,” Josh groans. “What will the agents think if they’ll see you with us?”

“They used to think that me and Tyler are like… lovers,” she says, and Josh notices a shadow of confusion in her blue eyes. “So I had to cut off all the ties.”

She has beautiful eyes, there’s a good chance Tyler likes them a lot.

And Josh shouldn’t be thinking of this.

“So sweet,” Josh smiles at her just to prove he still has that option.

Tyler just laughs behind his back.

 

***

VESSEL has a pretty big bathroom, and at some point it’s a good thing.

But when Jenna leads them there, Josh is more than just confused. He suddenly feels very self-conscious.

Mostly, because he imagines them in the shower together, and it makes him feel hot.

“Your clothes are dirty,” Jenna points out.

“I had a nosebleed,” Tyler shrugs, looking down at the small brown stains on his chest.

That happened late at night, while Josh was still sleeping.

And of course, Tyler didn’t wake him up.

Josh suspects that Tyler’s nosebleeds are just side effects of something. Maybe, his body reacts to the block-serum this way.

“You can put your coveralls into a washing machine here,” Jenna offers.

It’s a nice idea, Josh admits.

“So. Can we?..” Tyler waves his hand at the showers.

There are two shower cabins, so maybe Josh doesn’t have to be so embarrassed.

“I’ll be in my room down the hallway, meet me there,” Jenna nods, leaving the bathroom.

Jenna closes the door, and Tyler locks it in a rush.

Josh feels like he’s trapped here.

In a good way though.

Josh crosses the bathroom and sighs sadly when he sees his reflection in the mirror. He looks like he went through Hell. The dark shadows under his tired eyes, unshaven cheeks, a fading bruise on his jaw; his hair is still blue on the top of his head, but now it mixes with his natural dark color.

In the reflection behind him, Josh sees Tyler unzipping his coverall and pulling it down.

Josh turns away from the mirror.

“Jesus,” he whispers.

It could be much worse.

But the bruises littering Tyler’s torso and stomach are terrible. He also has some fresh scratches on his elbows, and he only frowns, noticing Josh’s scanning gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tyler grumbles, reaching for the towel.

Tyler still hesitates to take his underwear off.

Josh unzips his uniform and puts it into the washer along with Tyler’s.

Then, he walks into the shower cabin, hearing Tyler turn the water on in the cabin next to him.

They just need to take their time.

Josh’s knees are badly bruised, his reddened knuckles hurt, and the skin there is broken and a bit inflamed; Josh wants to wash the sweat off his body and soothe the nagging pain that shoots through his back with every movement. He just stands like this, thinking, as the minutes pass by.

Josh closes his eyes, finally relaxing under the streams of hot water.

“Tyler?” he calls.

“What?” Tyler shouts back, sounding like he’s spitting the water out of his mouth.

“Next time we’re taking the shower together. I’m not joking.”

“F-fine!”

“I’m not joking,” Josh repeats just in case.

“Yeah, I got it,” Tyler responds, turning the water off.

When Josh walks out of the cabin, Tyler throws their clean clothes into a dryer.

They’re wrapped into towels, but Josh feels like they’re completely naked. He sees the outlines of Tyler’s ribs under his tanned skin, covered with blue, yellow and black marks. Tyler hums something under his breath, and Josh almost forgets they’re still wasting their time in VESSEL.

Without saying a word, they shave, and it seems like their reflections mock them again.

“Well, at least we look like humans,” Tyler mutters, rubbing his chin.

“We’re humans,” Josh smirks.

For Josh, Tyler is a human, no matter what.

He likes the way Tyler’s soft skin looks now.

But his brain feels numb when Tyler stands half-naked next to him.

Josh even sees some abstract patterns swimming in front of his eyes.

So, Josh grabs Tyler by the shoulders, pulls him closer and kisses him.

The heat coming from Tyler’s bare skin is overwhelming, and his hand grips at Josh’s damp hair as he smashes their lips together once again. Josh can feel the tiny beads of water sliding down Tyler’s neck, their hearts beat in unison, and they’re still wearing nothing but those white towels on their hips, and probably one innocent movement would be enough to get rid of them-

“We’re not having sex here,” Tyler whispers into Josh’s ear.

His words burn the skin as he almost sticks his tongue into the gauge in Josh’s earlobe, biting it lightly, and Josh fucking _moans,_ almost losing his footing.

Tyler has found his erogenous zone.

Damn.

But it feels _amazing_.

“I swear I’m gonna ask you out as soon as we’re free,” Josh promises, his breath hitches with every word. “We should go to movies or something.”

“Movies? Okay, but you’re buying the pop-corn,” Tyler chortles, gently trying to pull out of Josh’s hug.

“Deal,” Josh smiles widely at his friend.

 

***

Jenna’s room is small, even smaller than Josh and Tyler’s room, and Josh feels awkward, sitting on her bed.

And Jenna holds Tyler’s hand.

“Tomorrow is the day of Tyler’s _deactivation_ ,” she says, choking back tears.

Josh doesn’t like this conversation.

“Oh God, no,” Tyler mutters, staring at his shoes.

“Are they gonna kill him?” Josh asks.

His throat hurts like he swallowed a bunch of pins.

“Not exactly. Merrick is going to send him into the laboratory to inspect, um, his brain. He still wants to find out what Tyler remembers,” Jenna keeps squeezing Tyler’s palm, almost digging her fingernails in his skin.

‘Laboratory’ means ‘experiments’, and ‘experiments’ mean ‘to turn Tyler into a helpless mindless creature’.

“He wants to know a beautiful name of the planet I came from?” Tyler tries to joke, but it’s a failed attempt.

“He wants to know everything about your mechanisms, microchips and spaceships. About your race. About the meaning of the Message. Come on, no one knows your potential, Tyler!”

“We had a potential, but you blocked it, thank you very much!” Josh snaps, jumping on his feet.

“You’re both leaving VESSEL tomorrow,” Jenna says firmly. “I’m not going to let him torture Tyler anymore. Merrick is afraid of that trivial ‘they’re among us’, and Tyler is one of ‘them’ and that’s the problem,” she snaps her fingers, releasing Tyler’s hand. “I have a serum. It will help to cover Tyler’s ‘alien gene’, but honestly, no one knows about it, because it’s my own invention.”

“Gonna drug me with some shit? Again?” Tyler raises his eyebrow.

“I’ve been working with your blood for months, Tyler,” Jenna responds. “And I know how that ‘shit’ works.”

There’s some similarity between Tyler and Jenna — both of them have a huge closet filled up with skeletons.

“Any risks?” Josh can’t deal with anxiety, and his legs are trembling, so he’s forced to sit down onto the chair.

“Yeah… But Merrick is sure that Tyler is dangerous.”

“Let’s kill Merrick,” Josh shrugs.

“I’m his boss.”

“What?”

“I am Merrick’s boss,” Jenna repeats. “So I don’t give a shit about his intentions. I got that case, I had to find Tyler and spy on him, I had to find a contact with him, and I proved he’s _not_ dangerous, and now I say- this is the end of the operation.”

Jenna crosses her arms over her chest, looking straight into Josh’s eyes, and Josh feels uncomfortable under her gaze.

“And w-what about Josh?” Tyler asks quietly.

“They were going to erase his memories,” Jenna replies. “Sorry, Josh,” she adds.

“So nice of you,” Josh quips. “But you said Tyler belongs to VESSEL.”

“I belong to myself,” Tyler corrects.

“I am a part of VESSEL, and I’m gonna fight for Tyler no matter what. I didn’t sign the paper of my agreement with his deactivation.”

“Why do you call that ‘deactivation’ if it’s just a test?” Tyler asks.

“Because you have no chance to survive.”

Josh feels like he’s on the brink of having a heart-attack.

“Are you sure your serum will not hurt him?” Josh eyes her suspiciously.

“Yes, I’m sure. Also, it’ll help him not to be so noticeable during… hospital visits. We had a lot of problems last time,” Jenna’s intonation is permeated with sadness.

She’s not as cold as Josh had thought.

“Tomorrow is gonna be a big day for us,” Tyler’s voice shakes a little as he speaks. “So, are you going to just vaccinate me, and then everything is going to be alright?”

“I hope so?” Jenna gives him a trembling smile.

Josh’s mind is a mess. VESSEL is supposed to destroy Tyler completely, and what if Jenna’s serum is just a poison? She’s a friend, Josh convinces himself, but she’s the (double) agent, and it’s the closed circle.

They will know all the details tomorrow.

Jenna helps them find a way back to their cell; Josh can’t help but chuckles, because the picture of a young girl leading two guys in red uniforms down the dark hallways looks funny.

But Jenna is _still_ the VESSEL agent.

But Josh is so exhausted that he passes out as soon as he climbs up onto his squeaky bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (it's not the last chapter, yeah, but i think it's realy close to the end)  
> \---  
> it's my biggest work, the longest thing i've ever written, so THANKS for sticking with me, guys! <3  
> \---  
> and sorry for the delay again- heathens fucked me up, and i was busy reading all the prison!au's  
> p.s. and i started writing one


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Where are we going?” 
> 
> “Nowhere.”

Josh’s family is sure Josh is dead.

This terrible thought keeps torturing his brain, and through the blood humming in his ears Josh doesn’t even hear his heavy footsteps as he paces across the office. It reminds him of the nurse’s office, but it looks mostly like a small lab.

Josh’s clumsiness doesn’t let him live a normal life, so he almost tips the table over; some vials filled up with different liquids make a sad ringing.

“Sit down,” Jenna orders without even turning to Josh.

She is busy preparing the syringes and needles for the injection, and Tyler is already sitting on the examination table, shaking, eyes wide and skin pale. The air smells like disinfectant and medical supplies, and Josh’s nostrils feel dry and itchy like he’s about to sneeze. It’s their seventh day in VESSEL, 3:45PM the clock on the wall says, and it’s the official Day ‘X’. Josh almost crosses his fingers for luck.

“Merrick mentioned you owned satellites,” Tyler suddenly says, fidgeting on the table. “I’d like to talk to the techs. Well, theoretically.”

“Wanna stay here for the next week?” Jenna chuckles, filling the syringe with the yellow serum.

Tyler shakes his head and jerks away nervously when Jenna comes towards the examination table.

“No, no, thanks, just asked. Is this- is this _that_ serum?” Tyler panics and tugs down the sleeves of his uniform. “Jen, really, I’m n-not sure if I want to go through this, I’m like, not gonna get sick or something, I don’t want to have this crap in my veins, shit,” Tyler manages to control the flow of his babbling. “I’m scared. Terrified even,” he exhales unevenly.

“Don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay,” Jenna ruffles Tyler’s hair with a weak smile.

She’s holding a syringe between her fingers.

And it’s more than just enough.

“He doesn’t want to get drugged with this shit, why do you force him?!” Josh exclaims, flopping down onto the table next to Tyler and trying to be Tyler’s personal shield.

“Because you don’t want to get kidnapped again!” Jenna cries out.

“I don’t wanna die,” Tyler whispers and swallows the rest of the sentence.

Josh is sure Tyler is about to add ‘like this’.  

Jenna apparently loses her temper.

“Give me your hand,” she gestures at Tyler, but he doesn’t stir. “Now. You know I’m not gonna hurt you, right?” she keeps her voice low, but there are some disturbing notes in her intonation.

Tyler reluctantly rolls up his sleeve.

“Ready?” Jenna taps her finger at the syringe.

“No,” Tyler sighs.

But it doesn’t matter.

Jenna sticks the sharp tip of the needle into the crook of his elbow. Tyler screws his eyes shut as the liquid finds its way into his vein, and Josh can see sweat gleaming on Tyler’s temples as he breathes out through his clenched teeth.

Josh is waiting for something, for any reaction, but Tyler only winces and bites his bottom lip, his teeth almost ripping that barely healed cut there.

“Tyler?” Josh asks worriedly.

Jenna pulls the empty syringe out of Tyler’s vein.

“Yes?” Tyler replies without opening his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Jenna presses the cottonwool to the tiny dot on Tyler’s arm.

“I d-don’t know. Dizzy,” Tyler slurs, blinking hard. “Kind of want to sleep.”

“That’s normal. You can go to sleep now,” Jenna nods. “Your body needs some time to get used to the serum.”

“But I thought we were going to leave!” Josh protests. 

“Me too,” Tyler grumbles. But Tyler looks a little green and honestly Josh is not sure if Tyler is able to move at all.

“I need to get some things for your… for your journey,” Jenna responds, turning to the table and mixing some liquids in the bottle.

Tyler wordlessly glances at the bruise slowly appearing on the crook of his elbow, and Josh feels incredibly sorry for him. Tyler sniffles and rubs his reddened eyes with the heels of his hands. Josh imagines the liquid seeping through the cells of Tyler’s blood, masking his uniqueness, those bits of his _alien genes_ , destroying them.

His palms go all wet and sticky when Tyler begins to speak again.

“It’s weird. My blood gets hotter and hotter,” he complains, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“Just take some rest and it’ll go away,” Jenna stands in front of Tyler, and he lifts his head up, catching her gaze. “Prepare yourself for the blood test, I’m gonna check you out before you leave.”

“I hate needles,” Tyler whines helplessly.

“I’m sorry. I promise it’ll be over really soon,” Jenna sighs, patting Tyler’s shoulder.

There’s too much contact between them so Josh has to admit that jealousy bites at his heart each time Jenna stands or sits extremely close to Tyler. It’s not like he’s thinking about them being together, but the fact Tyler could’ve had relationship with a girl makes him feel weird.

Josh doesn’t show it.

Their sick adventure will go down in history; again, Josh decides he’s going to believe Jenna if her awesome serum won’t kill Tyler anytime soon.

Surprisingly, Tyler stops looking so exhausted.

Jenna checks his blood pressure and says it’s almost fine- just a bit higher than it’s supposed to be, and probably it’s the reason of his frequent nosebleeds. Then, Jenna comes to Josh and sheepishly warns him she’s going to check his pupils with a small flashlight.

“I know, I’m a bit late, but I heard you got knocked out,” she says, cupping Josh’s chin and making him throw his head back.

“Yeah, I had a concussion,” Josh winces at the light. It’s still hurting his brain somehow, like the string of light hits the back of his head. “I thought Zack was going to break my skull, but Tyler helped me, so I didn’t have to deal with the aftermath.”

Jenna nearly drops the flashlight.

“Because I’m a cool friend,” Tyler smirks. “Is Josh’s head okay?”

Honestly, Josh’s head now hurts like hell _again,_ but he doesn’t think it’s the information he wants to share.

“I’m fine,” he simply replies.

He sees shapeless yellow and white shadows when he closes his eyes. And there are sharp pieces of glass in his brain.

Today sucks.

After the short but painful examination Jenna sends them back to their room, promising to visit them in the evening.

 

***

Tyler is cute when he sleeps. His nose pressed into the pillow, mouth a little open, one hand swings over the side of the bed. Josh keeps watching him from the opposite bed, rolling onto his stomach to prove Tyler’s sleeping position is pretty comfortable.

Tyler really deserves to take some rest; Josh isn’t even sure if his body still has enough energy to heal all these bruises and cuts littering his skin.

They used the gel Jenna brought them, but the result is not very noticeable.

But they’re recovering anyway.

Josh thinks he has to get back for doing push-ups once they get back home. Jogging in the mornings with Tyler would be just perfect, but Tyler always says that he feels (and looks) like a zombie until it’s at least 2PM.

So Josh is just dreaming about that.

He wants to find an isle of calmness in the ocean of anxiety, but his ship is kind of drowning at the moment.

Tyler lifts his head up from the pillow with a soft groan.

“Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“I feel empty,” Tyler rolls onto his back. “Like there’s nothing left inside of me. I c-can’t even put that into words.”

Josh starts counting the cracks on the floor.

“You’re gonna be okay,” is all what he says.

But he doesn’t believe that anymore.

 

***

Jenna visits them four hours later, and Josh only winces squeamishly when Jenna takes some blood from the tip of Tyler’s finger.

Josh now hates seeing any amount of blood, especially when it’s Tyler’s.

Tyler doesn’t look at it either.

 

***

“Let’s go,” Jenna whispers, pushing Josh into a long and cold hallway; he hears that Tyler stumbles on something and curses under his breath. “Don’t make any noises.”

“Uh, sorry,” Tyler whispers back as Jenna snatches his sleeve and drags him into the endless darkness.

“Where are we going?”

Josh’s question echoes through the hallway, drowning out the sounds of water dribbling from the ceiling.

“I’m leading you to the back door,” Jenna explains, turning on a massive flashlight.

Josh squints his eyes at the light and focuses on not stepping onto something squishy and unpleasant; they’re probably more underground than ever, and it seems like the town just presses down on them. This isn’t doing any good things for Josh’s anxiety, though. He starts feeling a lot claustrophobic because all what he can see is a little patch of the ground surrounded by darkness.

Everything looks a bit funny this way — dancing shadows and gleaming puddles of water on the floor, and when Josh catches a stream of the fresh air brushing over his skin he doesn’t believe that.

He turns around to check Tyler, and his friend just nods, catching his worried glance.

Jenna keeps going forward, and soon enough there’s a staircase, and maybe it’s the last barrier between them and their freedom, their normal life is just waiting for them outside.

At least Josh keeps hoping so.

Jenna stops beside the stairs, gripping the flashlight with one hand and waving at Josh and Tyler to hurry them up; though Tyler keeps stepping onto some invisible shit on the floor, they make their way to the stairs quite successfully.

“The car is waiting,” Jenna nods contentedly.

“Are you going to drive us back home?” Josh can’t fight against his curiosity.

“Kind of,” Jenna huffs. “Let’s go.”

They literally run upstairs, the yellow spot coming from the flashlight keeps hitting the railings and walls, and finally they’re reaching a large metal door with a huge rusty lock. Josh asks himself why they can’t just go out of the front door, and why all of it looks like a goddamn prison break.

Josh is amazed by the force Jenna pushes the lock with, before Tyler takes a step forward to offer his help; he looks genuinely surprised too.

Josh almost chokes on the cold and wet air as he finally goes out of the door, followed by Jenna and Tyler; Josh throws his head back only to see the dark and starless sky spreading above him — it looks especially beautiful after being captured for a week.

He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly being so poetic.

Tyler hugs him from behind, but it takes only a second before Jenna urges them to go.

There are some tall street lights, a metal fence all around the territory they’re standing on, and a lot of barbed wire, wrapped around nearly every metal bar.

Josh notices a single car on the opposite side of the courtyard, and Jenna just wipes any expression off her face as she leads them to the vehicle. It’s not a truck that brought them here, it’s a black minivan with tinted windows, and Josh can’t hold back his surprised gasp when he notices a person in the driver’s seat.

“Brendon?!” Tyler nearly shouts, looking around hastily and lowering his voice to a whisper. “What does that mean?”

“Just decided to help a little,” Brendon shrugs, pushing his too-big glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“I hope you’re not going to drive us down the wood and dismember us,” Josh actually wants to joke, but he thinks he has to pinch himself each time before saying these dumb things.

“There are no any cameras, Brendon turned them off,” Jenna replies. “You’re safe now.”

“With the foreign crap in my blood? Don’t even try to fool me, Jen,” Tyler smirks, opening the car’s door and climbing into the backseat.

Josh gets inside in a rush right in time to manage to take a seat next to him. He sees Jenna roll her eyes, slightly disappointed by the fact she doesn’t have a chance to sit next to Tyler.

“So childish.”

“Can we get our clothes back? I’m sick of wearing this,” Tyler tugs at the front of his uniform.

“No, we destroyed your clothes,” Jenna says.

“Great. And you aren’t going to give me my microchip back, are you?”

“It stays in a lab.”

“That thing was unique, be careful,” Tyler interjects.

Jenna doesn’t give him an answer.

Josh starts to feel slightly nauseous when Brendon starts the engine and drives the car off VESSEL parking lot; he only watches some vague lights dancing behind the window and kind of calms down.

They drive in silence for a while, maybe an hour or so, Josh even smiles a little when Tyler drops his head onto his shoulder, sighing tiredly.

Josh still tries to figure out what’s happening in Tyler’s system at the moment, which blood cells are blocked by the serum, and what was wrong with his blood before.

“What about that blood test?” Josh blurts out before he gets the time to think.

“Negative. The alien gene has been successfully deactivated,” Jenna responds.

The word ‘deactivated’ makes Josh anxious again.

“When will it back?”

“Never, I hope,” Jenna bends forward and reaches her hand to touch Tyler’s forehead.

Tyler only lets out a small sleepy grunt in response.

The suspense is unsettling, and the minivan keeps shaking on the bumps on the road, and Jenna is not happy about having a conversation with Josh.

An hour later the car suddenly stops; Josh barely catches Tyler up not to let him fall forward on the driver’s seat.

“Did I miss something?” Tyler blinks, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s time to get out of the car,” Brendon replies. “We’re not going with you, it’s not VESSEL territory anymore.”

“What?” Josh thinks he misheard him. “Are you going to just leave us here?!”

“We’re near a cornfield, what?!” Tyler exclaims, looking at the window.

“Come on,” Jenna opens the car’s door.

Josh shivers in the embrace of a cold night air and throws his head back again, only to check the tiny gleaming spots dotting the black sky. Maybe one of those stars is Tyler’s real home, who knows.

Brendon takes two backpacks out of the car trunk and puts them on the ground while Jenna keeps drilling them with her gaze.

“Water, some food, first aid kit,” she says, pointing at the backpacks. “It’ll be enough for the night. Take a car on the road, just be careful.”

“Careful in the middle of the night in the cornfield,” Tyler grumbles. “What’s the catch?”

“Stop it,” Jenna hands him one of the backpacks.

“Stop what?”

Great. Now Josh is going to take a trip through the large cornfield together with his nearly hysterical boyfriend.

“It’s gonna be a long journey,” Josh mutters.

He doesn’t even remember how long it took to make it to VESSEL building. And now they have to get back without any vehicles, wonderful.

Josh only hopes they will be able to take a car as soon as possible.

“Alright,” Jenna claps her hands to catch their attention. “Let’s repeat the rules: you’re going back home, and let’s pretend you don’t know anything about VESSEL. Because if you tell something to the journalists, the agents will find you, and you don’t want to get captured again. Then, don’t even try to change your names or your location, because I’m still kind of Tyler’s personal spy, nurse, etc. If you start getting sick or having some pretty bad side effects- email me. Tyler knows the address.”

Tyler raises his hand up and obviously tries to ask something, but Jenna keeps giving them a lecture.

“Do not try to find the Contactees, do not try to catch any signals. Do something of those and you’ll get sued, and your memories will be erased. Well, I trust you, guys.”

“And…” Josh clears his throat.

“Don’t even try to get your powers back. It’s dangerous and illegal.”

“Are we on suicidal watch now?” Tyler asks sarcastically.

“Something like that.”

“At least we still have a chance to get back home alive,” Josh shrugs. It doesn’t seem so dangerous.

But cornfields are so cliché.

“Guys,” Jenna’s voice softens. “Please, be careful. I’d like to go with you, but I have to work on those files we’d lost.”

Josh thinks he doesn’t have to be so mad at her.

“Aren’t you afraid you may lose your job for helping us?” he wrinkles his nose at his own question.

“I’m not afraid, Josh,” she suddenly takes a step forward and hugs him; her cold nose presses against the crook of his neck. “I’m just…” she sniffs. “Sorry?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” Josh rubs her back, feeling how fragile and skinny she actually is.

And Tyler hugs both of them.

They stand like this for a minute before Brendon begins to speak.

“We have to go back,” he says apologetically, and Jenna shudders at these words.

“Yeah,” she nods and squeezes Tyler’s ribs in a hug.

Josh only turns away when Jenna presses her lips to Tyler’s jaw, smearing her lipstick on it.

“Good luck,” she whispers as she pulls away from him.

“Um. Thanks,” Tyler rubs his neck in attempts to get rid of blush.

Josh is definitely _not_ sentimental.

He just waves his hand when Jenna and Brendon get back into the car.

 

***

“What time is it?”

“I dunno.”

Josh sighs and keeps kicking the small stones by the roadside; everything gets darker, and they can only use one flashlight to save another one for the hardest times.

The air gets a little warmer or Josh’s well-trained body is just getting used to it.

“Where are we going?” he tries again even though it sounds dumb.

“Nowhere.”

Tyler adjusts the strap of the black backpack on his shoulder.

“No, man, seriously, do you think we have a chance to get a car? Where are we?” Josh just wants to talk, but Tyler nearly throws the flashlight on the ground.

“Josh, can you, like, shut up? I have no clue where we are, so please just stop babbling!” he spits and increases his pace.

“But I just…” Josh mutters confusedly.

“Sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler repeats. “For getting mad at you, I didn’t mean to.”

“That was creepy,” Josh admits.

“Because I’m creepy.”

So, Josh doesn’t try to talk or encourage Tyler anymore; he hears his rapid breathing and his footsteps, and everything looks more than just unreal.

Shadows, lights, shadows, lights, then shadows again.

Something is lurking behind these shadows, Josh is aware of it.

Something dangerous is living in the cornfield. It wants to jump at them, catch them, kill them.

Because the darkest shadows are always quite unfriendly.

They keep walking by the roadside, hearing only the sounds of the night — the light rustling of grass, unreal distanced voices, but the most part of it just happens to be Josh’s hallucination, because the night always kills man’s sanity.

So, when he gets hit straight in the face by the thick ray of light he doesn’t believe. 

But Tyler does.

“Run,” he commands, grabbing Josh’s hand and quite roughly shoving him in the gap between the cornstalks.

Josh doesn’t mind Tyler’s fingers leave a row of hot and stinging bruises on his wrist as they run through the field. The cornstalks somehow block some of the light that keeps pouring from the strangely bright sky, _shooting them,_ and Josh can’t resist the urge to throw his head back and look at the spaceship.

“Oh, no, no, no, Josh, don’t do that!” Tyler shouts when Josh stops and lifts his head up.

The white gleaming is beautiful. The ringing in his ears is utterly disgusting.

Tyler’s fist punches Josh’s shoulder immediately, pulling him out of the trance and making him squeeze his eyes shut to protect them from the light.

The sound.

Tyler pushes him again and forces him to keep running even though Josh feels like his shaking limbs are paralyzed, and he might fall down to the ground any second. Josh’s blood is just boiling in his veins — he just thinks what will happen when all of his red blood cells clot.

The noise from the sky keeps bashing his brain, and Tyler keeps dragging him forward through the long and scratchy cornstalks, ignoring all the scrapes and bruises they’re getting on their way to the freedom. They rush through the sound, through the light, and this weird stroboscope deforms their surroundings.

Josh’s arm hurts where Tyler’s numb fingers dig into his forearm, but Tyler  _doesn’t_ let him stop.

“Move!”

Josh hates this tone, but he knows Tyler just can’t be gentle when they’re balancing on the brink between life and death again.

“Josh, _please_ , move.”

Tyler is just a ball of adrenaline. So Josh is kind of surprised. He swears there are tiny bugs in his lungs, swarming and tickling him from the inside, and Josh heaves out only the wet gasps instead of the normal breaths.

Tyler breathes like this when he panics, but Josh is too exhausted to panic.

He sees stars, and at first he thinks they exist only in his mind, his vision is clouded, but then Josh realizes he’s just sprawled on the cold ground. It soothes his burning skin, but the backpack is hurting his back, and Josh blinks hard to get his consciousness back.

These stars on the sky are so beautiful, like a shining galaxy above Josh’s head; it keeps swirling and swaying and making him dizzy.

“Josh, get up.”

Tyler is reckless.

Josh only closes his tired eyes to blink them open again, really, he isn’t going to drag Tyler to the bottom, especially when they’re on their way back home.

But the lack of energy is unbearable, and the darkness slowly covers those beautiful sparkling dots still sneaking through Josh’s closed eyelids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cornfields are my faves


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’ve gotten stuck in the middle of nowhere without water and food, but Josh feels terrible for giving up too quickly. He decides he still has some strength, and if Tyler is agreed to keep moving, Josh is ready.
> 
> He intends to say that, but Tyler suddenly elbows him in the ribs, making Josh fall silent.
> 
> “Wait,” Tyler presses his forefinger to his lips. “Can you hear that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight blood warning

The starlight soothes his burning skin and dulls the headache; it’s the normal starlight, and Josh even attempts to decipher the signals the stars are sending to him.

There’s the code. _Everything_ is a code, and Josh just has to force his brain to start thinking again.

The stars are blinking, tickling Josh’s eyelids, and he finally opens his eyes; Tyler is sitting next to him, blocking the half of the starlight and nearly poking at Josh’s face with the flashlight.

Josh thought they threw it away.

“I want it back,” Josh mutters.

“What?”

“The light,” Josh explains, voice raspy. “It was beautiful.”

“No, no, Josh, it wasn’t. We don’t like the shining from the sky, remember?” Tyler lifts the flashlight up, and Josh rests his forearm over his eyes to fight off the brightness of it.

He can’t understand why Tyler is saying these weird things.

“It wasn’t that bad this time,” Josh argues, rolling onto his side to stop the backpack pressing at his back.

“Maybe,” Tyler shrugs.

“We have to… go?” Josh asks with a frown. He doesn’t actually remember what they are doing.

“Josh. We can’t spend the night here, so yeah,” Tyler sighs, tugging at the collar of his uniform.

“I know.”

If Tyler wants Josh to get up and run again, then Josh has to muster his energy and brace himself for the continuation of their wonderful adventure. He manages to stand up but promptly falls to his knees, his fists hit the ground not to let him collapse face first.

Tyler somehow holds him upright.

“Alright. We’re staying here,” Tyler groans.

The weight of guilt keeps pressing down on Josh, but he almost lets out a sigh of relief as he realizes he doesn’t have to go anywhere at this point in time.

“Why do I feel so strange?” Josh doesn’t feel a hint of energy left in his body; he wants to curl into himself, to sleep until it’s over.

“I don’t know,” Tyler is still sitting next to him, leaning his back against the cornstalks. “Radiation.”

“Amazing,” Josh mutters, taking the backpack and trying to make a pillow out of it.

“Are you really going to sleep?”

“Why not?”

“Indeed,” Tyler drags himself closer to Josh as he lies down. 

The cornstalks are rustling and swaying above them, and it’s almost comforting. Josh is kind of still waiting for another spaceship or maybe aliens are already hiding somewhere in the green sea of the cornfield.

Josh and Tyler are just lying on their backs and staring at the waning moon and the constellations. These silver dots on the sky are beautiful; Josh doesn’t know why he just can’t stop thinking of the extraterrestrial life. But Tyler proves it’s real.

Tyler squeezes Josh’s hand.

“Good night,” he says in a low voice.

“Don’t let anyone bite you,” Josh responds.

 

***

When Josh wakes up, his body is numb and slick with sweat, and there’s the desert in his mouth. He also feels like he’s lying on a frying pan. It’s early in the morning, but the sun is shining abnormally bright, and all the colors look more natural this way. It’s almost peaceful, Josh thinks.

But Tyler isn’t here, his backpack lies abandoned on the ground beside Josh.

Though, when Josh sits up and rubs his bleary eyes, he notices the cornstalks moving and then releasing Tyler out of the green trap.

“Hey!” he exclaims excitedly.

“Morning,” Josh yawns. He’s still sleepy.

“I found something,” Tyler says, throwing the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and gesturing at Josh to follow him. “Let’s go.”

Honestly, Josh is about to offer Tyler to eat something for breakfast, but it seems like Tyler is not interested in eating at all. He only tugs at Josh’s sleeve, forcing him to get up, and Josh doesn’t even say a word as Tyler leads him down in the cornfield, throwing the stalks off their way. But soon enough Josh sees something truly amazing and creepy — a thing he’s secretly wanted to see since he was six.

The broken cornstalks are sprawled on the ground like a thick green carpet, in perfectly tight rows; Josh can only catch a fragment of this wonderful picture, but he can tell the broken cornstalks are creating a _circle_ , stacked clockwise.

This anomaly promptly washes off Josh’s previous drowsiness, he can only stare at the part of a crop circle he’s standing at. Tyler doesn’t look excited about that anymore.

“It’s a miracle,” Josh whispers, walking around the circle, not wanting to ruin the integrity of this piece of art.

“Yeah,” Tyler nods in agreement but then shivers at discomfort. “Don’t feel good here, though.”

There’s probably too much foreign energy that upsets Tyler, but Josh suddenly feels fresh, and he kind of wants to build a shack here and just be a happy cornfield’s owner.

Though, Tyler doesn’t share his enthusiasm.

“What?” Josh asks a bit disappointedly, kicking one of the stalks only to get it closer to the others.

“Let’s go back t-to the road? Please?” Tyler almost begs; he rubs his shoulders and shivers again.

“Okay,” Josh sighs, feeling incredibly sad about leaving this lovely cornfield.

His head doesn’t hurt anymore, but he’s sure the pain is going to return in full swing as soon as he’s out of this place.

Tyler’s hands are trembling as he takes a bottle of water out of the backpack and takes a huge gulp before handing the bottle to Josh. Josh doesn’t even have a time to feel the water in his dry mouth, just swallowing it down along with the dust in his stinging throat. He hadn’t thought he was so dehydrated.

“It’s hard to breathe, isn’t it?” Tyler chokes out, moving apart some still standing cornstalks.

“No, it’s fine,” Josh dives in between the stalks. He holds them a little to let Tyler follow him.

“Not fine,” Tyler wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Recently, he argues with Josh way too much. But he really looks like he might pass out, his lips turn a bit blue.

“Okay. Drink more water and let’s go,” Josh gives him the bottle back.  

Maybe, some satellites will take a picture of these crop circles or whatever it is; a marvelous pattern on the field, and some scientists will probably be trying to figure out the origin of the circle. Maybe they will be able to find some parts of a spaceship even.

But the truth is: Josh and Tyler aren’t allowed to talk about this despite the fact they were the witnesses of its appearance.

VESSEL is watching them until the end, but no one knows where the end is.

 

***

“Wanna get sunburnt?” Tyler asks as Josh slips out of the upper half of his uniform and ties the sleeves around his waist.

“I don’t care.”

The wall of a hot air gets thicker, and the layer of red fabric cruelly suffocates Josh’s skin. Tyler just rolls up the sleeves and unzips his coverall a little, exposing tattoos on his tanned chest.

They only have a half empty bottle of water and a couple granola bars. They have already passed the cornfield, but Josh still looks back sometimes even though they’re now walking down the road, asphalt is almost melting under the soles of their shabby shoes.

The sun is devouring Josh’s shoulders, licking at his bare back and leaving the red smears on his skin; Josh hears Tyler’s breathing is unsteady and hoarse, but not because of panic — something in his system is just not working right.

“My head hurts,” Tyler exhales, massaging his temples.

There’s no way they can stop and sit by the roadside until Tyler feels better. There are no even any trees to hide from the sunshine, there are no any clouds in the clear blue sky.

“Can you like… Keep walking?” Josh asks cautiously. Tyler gives him an uncertain shrug.

“I feel like shit,” Tyler adjusts the backpack on his shoulders.

“Same,” Josh agrees. He feels a building pressure behind his eyes, like his brain is swelling and pounding, and this doesn’t make his terrible mood any better.

“We need more water. No, we need to find a car, I’m about to steal a car, what do you think?” Tyler smirks a little, but he can’t conceal his tiredness.

“Nice idea. Or we can just rob a supermarket,” Josh catches Tyler’s crazy idea.

They haven’t actually seen any cars on their way up here, let alone any stores or gas stops, and Josh kind of starts losing his hope for a successful rescue. But the aliens don’t try to abduct them and implant microchips, so Josh doesn’t want to bother Tyler with his ranting about the UFO incidents.

They keep walking for two more hours, at least it feels like, and at first Josh doesn’t even notice that Tyler has stopped a few feet behind.

“Hey?” Josh emerges from the whirlpool of his thoughts.

He takes a few steps back in Tyler’s direction; Josh almost lets out a frustrated groan as he sees Tyler covering his nose with his hand, looking scared.

 _‘Shit,’_ Josh thinks. Feeling well after the Contact is just impossible.

“Oh shit,” Josh says when Tyler removes his hand off his face, showing Josh his bloody nose and blood-stained palm. Though, then he tries to wipe some of the crimson mess, only smearing it across his face.

“It’s really bad this time,” Tyler concludes.

“Just pinch your nose… somewhere,” Josh advises, cringing.

Tyler does as he told, but it’s not helping him solve the problem.

“It’s still leaking,” Tyler responds.

It’s not just leaking. It’s flowing.

“Try to clean yourself up,” Josh almost orders, watching Tyler’s bloodied fingers fighting with the zipper on the pocket of his backpack.

Tyler sniffs; some blood keeps dribbling from his chin when he bends over, rummaging through the backpack’s contents. He pulls the bottle of water out, leaving red fingerprints on the transparent plastic, and Josh thinks he will never drink from that bottle again. Josh can’t even convince himself he has to go and help Tyler find that frigging first aid kit.

He knows he’s acting weird.

Josh blames it all on overheating; but he can’t deny he feels like he might vomit at the sight of Tyler’s blood. Josh turns away not to look at it, he wants to avoid Tyler’s concerned glance, he wants to hide.

“I need water,” Tyler utters guiltily.

“So just take it!” Josh shouts, taking a step forward.

“We don’t have much water left, and you…” Tyler starts; his words are incoherent from being unable to breathe through his nose.

“Just take the goddamn water and wash off the blood!”

Josh is waiting for Tyler’s witty answer.

But it seems like Tyler doesn’t want to yell back.

“I… I c-can’t stop it,” Tyler mutters, Josh immediately feels sorry for him.

It’s not Tyler’s fault, really. They’re just getting through some rough times, and mood swings are contagious. 

“Alright. We need to calm down,” Josh takes a deep breath, looking back at Tyler.

Tyler has found a pack of tissues, at least.

Josh is sick of dealing with Tyler’s constant troubles. But Tyler’s nose won’t stop bleeding, and the sun just won’t stop frying their innards, and that only makes things worse. If they get home they should contact Jenna and ask her about the side effects she’d mentioned before. Josh still can’t believe that some of Tyler’s alien genes are permanently blocked.

“Should I say sorry or what?” Tyler asks, taking the soaked tissue off his face.

Tyler is probably getting sick; Josh winces at this thought, but really, he can’t be a douchebag and just ignore these dark circles under Tyler’s eyes.

“No, you shouldn’t. Just- just calm down, okay? I can get mad sometimes, I’m never gonna scream at you again, I promise,” Josh blurts out. 

The road is endless, and their journey is pointless. Josh feels kind of like a little kid that got lost in the middle of a supermarket, and he’s waiting, and waiting, and waiting for his mother, but she never comes.

Josh just reaches his hand to pick the bottle and give it to Tyler, but Tyler suddenly jerks away, nearly tripping over his backpack.

“You’re not good with blood,” Tyler sniffs again, catching the last red bead into the tissue.

“I’m not good with everything, honestly,” Josh sighs.

The weather has only gotten hotter, and it only increases Josh’s headache. He guesses he should go back to the cornfield to feel a bit better. Meanwhile, Tyler shoves some pieces of the tissue into his nostrils to prevent the probable nosebleed.

“Let’s go?” Tyler says a little too optimistically.

“Drink,” Josh literally pushes the bottle into Tyler’s hands. “And really. Ty, clean yourself up properly,” he repeats.

He looks at the tattoo on his right arm to distract himself while Tyler shakes _the last drops_ of water off the bottle.

Josh licks his dry lips with his similarly dry tongue. He thinks the color of his tattoo is fading, and he should re-fresh it, and then finally finish it. Josh feels the sweat trickling down the back of his neck, his hair is damp and dirty, his skin is itchy from the bites of a million of different bugs.

Tyler drinks the water.

Josh is really thirsty.

Well, maybe they’ll find a river or the road will lead them to some familiar place, to Josh’s apartment building, for example.

Josh’s squishy brain slowly turns into a hot soup, splashing inside his skull. Like it’s about to spill out of his ears.

Tyler swallows down the gulp of the water before offering it to Josh.

“Wanna?..”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

 _Josh_ is the strong one in their duo.

“Okay, but I’m gonna save it anyway, for you,” Tyler snorts, shoving the bottle back into the backpack.

“Thanks,” Josh sighs ruefully. One drop of water won’t change anything anyway.

 

***

Noticing that Tyler’s nose has finally stopped bleeding like crazy, Josh relaxes even though he knows something is very wrong and he can’t fix it. It’s like looking through the haze — grey and almost touchable, and Josh shakes his head to make it go away. He focuses on moving his legs, but his mostly empty backpack feels heavy without any reason; the migraine just keeps drilling his left temple, and Josh thinks he has to find something to protect his aching head from the sun.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Tyler asks.

“Uh, keep going? I dunno, man,” Josh says, looking around.

“We keep going,” Tyler grumbles. “At least, aliens don’t chase us.”

It’s a good thing. Thinking of good things always helps find the right way back home.

There’s nothing interesting in their surroundings: only a godforsaken road, some ugly and dry bushes by the roadside, a patch of formerly green grass, and a ton of hot and viscous air. Breathing is like inhaling fire, and every step brings nothing but calluses on their feet.

Josh guesses he’s now suffering from a heatstroke in addition to his regular headache. Miles and miles under the sun, it was bound to happen; though Josh doesn’t want to talk about that to Tyler. Tyler doesn’t have his healing abilities anymore, and it seems like he has lost much more than just one mysterious thing. But maybe Josh is just being overdramatic.

“But what if VESSEL wants us to die here?” the question tastes like bile, Josh tries to shove it back down his throat.

“No,” Tyler simply replies. “Jenna said…”

“Do you still trust her?” Josh cuts him off sharply.

“Yes,” Tyler gazes at the ground. “We just kinda… We can’t find a car, that’s all.”

“That’s the problem number one,” Josh agrees but then remembers something else. “But don’t you want to get your powers back?”

“Thanks, but no,” Tyler carefully takes the pieces of a tissue out of his nostrils.

Josh’s stomach churns when he sees a white and red paper.

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t know how this thing works,” Tyler throws the ripped tissue on the ground. “It’s like… Not just a painless healing, you know? Like, I could feel everything what _you_ were suffering from, and I bet it was at least ten times stronger than _you_ felt it,” he explains. “But healing without feeling the pain was just impossible. I hated that thing, because I was gifted, but I couldn’t use my powers too often, I am n-not a masochist! I know some things about broken bones, about healing the broken bones — it’s much worse, I know what it feels like being shot, or concussed, whatever- hey, you know about it a lot, too. Right?”

“Right,” Josh only mutters. This information takes too much space in his boiling brain, and his fever definitely rises up.

“I could feel your blood-loss,” Tyler informs him. “It was the most terrifying experience, but I couldn’t just watch you die.”

“Enough,” Josh pleads. Tyler resurrects the most traumatic memories, and it almost makes Josh plunge into that nightmare again.

“I’m just answering your question,” Tyler smirks a little mockingly. “Believe me, your gift was much better than mine. Mine was mostly a curse, especially that tattooing thing.”

“I didn’t know it was so… hard,” Josh swallows through the wave of nausea.

“Yeah, it wasn’t much fun,” Tyler nods. “Josh?..”

Josh wants to respond, really, but instead he just doubles over and starts dry-heaving; his stomach jerks and growls but nothing comes up. Tyler pats Josh’s bare shoulder, standing behind him, and Josh thinks he can’t just throw up while Tyler is staring at him. It’s stupid.

“Shit, Josh, you have to drink it,” Tyler brings a bottle of water to Josh’s still parted lips. “Really. It’ll help.”

Josh screws his eyes shut, fighting back a gag reflex; he gulps down the warm liquid what’s left on the bottom of the bottle, but he’s not sure if it even reaches his stomach. He’s dying from the heat, and those remains of his telekinesis keep rushing through his veins, nearly setting his blood on fire. It’s probably just the aftermath of the Contact.

He’s blocked but his powers aren’t, and it causes an imbalance in Josh’s system, and he wishes he could let it all out. He can’t hide from it, can’t run away, and the serum is just teasing his fantastic abilities. Though, Josh still can’t just use it. He’s pretty sure that inner wall is about to crumble down, brick by brick, and then VESSEL agents will catch him again.

Josh clenches his teeth in attempts to keep the water down, but then gasps and heaves it up along with a partially digested granola bar. He’s now even more dehydrated, and he keeps coughing and spitting the viscous saliva all over the tiny stones on the road.

“I feel… really sick,” Josh admits belatedly.

“It’s a s-sunstroke,” Tyler stutters out, placing his palm on Josh’s forehead.

“I know,” Josh groans when his empty stomach cramps again.

Tyler helps him sit down on the ground, and Josh finally catches his breath.

“We can cut off the sleeves of your uniform and make something like a hat. To cover your head,” Tyler offers, running his fingers through the blue mop of Josh’s hair.

“I’m gonna lose my pants then,” Josh smiles a little even though it’s not funny.

They’ve gotten stuck in the middle of nowhere without water and food, but Josh feels terrible for giving up too quickly. He decides he still has some strength, and if Tyler is agreed to keep moving, Josh is ready.

He intends to say that, but Tyler suddenly elbows him in the ribs, making Josh fall silent.

“Wait,” Tyler presses his forefinger to his lips. “Can you hear that?”

“What?”

Josh’s heartbeat is extremely loud.

“An engine,” Tyler gets up and starts snapping his fingers. “It’s a car, Josh, why don’t you hear it?!”

“I’m, uh, sorry?” Josh mumbles.

What if it’s a real car? They don’t have any money to pay for the ride. What if it’s a real trap? Or what if Jenna decided to work a taxi driver and drive them home?

“Josh, they’re coming here! Come on, get up,” Tyler encourages him, jumping across the road.

Josh definitely starts hearing some peculiar sounds which mean an approaching car, maybe even a truck. He tries to predict a driver’s reaction when they’ll see two exhausted guys with fading bruises on their faces. And their dust-covered red coveralls don’t make their looks friendlier.

The noise grows louder.

Tyler keeps shouting and waving his hands and acting like a psycho, and Josh is forced to get up from the ground and hurry to Tyler, who’s going insane and nearly crying. Josh tries his best to restrain his friend, but Tyler pulsates with uncontrollable energy, he’s kicking and screaming, and Josh manhandles him to the roadside.

But then they both freeze, because they see something big, and moving, and quite unreal.

A grey travel trailer.

“Oh my God,” Tyler whispers before throwing his hands up and yelling at the top of his lungs. “Stop! Please!”

Josh’s arms are still wrapped around Tyler’s waist not to let him run and kill himself under the tires of the trailer.

It’s _Tyler’s_  trailer. The one he sold to a guy named-

Whatever.

Josh just blinks perplexedly when the familiar vehicle stops right next to them, raising clouds of the road dust.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the chapter and kind of an epilogue  
> (and there are like two sex scenes oops)

Tyler nearly falls when Josh loosens his grasp on his body and rushes to the door, which is already open for them. Josh sways as the nostalgia catches him into its embrace; he can’t believe his eyes when he sees the driver — a pudgy guy with a thick-rimmed glasses and a baseball cap.

“Hey? I’m Patrick, do you remember me?” he says concernedly, letting Josh lean against him and dragging him to the bunk area. Josh immediately gets ashamed by his own height — this guy is _really_ short. “Are you… Tyler and Jim?”

“Josh,” Tyler corrects him gloomily before Josh manages to open his mouth and utter the right version of his name.

“Are you Josh?” Patrick clarifies, looking at Tyler.

“I’m Josh,” Josh croaks out from the bunk. It’s such a relief to finally sit down.

“Fine,” Patrick nods. “I mean… not fine. You guys are definitely not fine, how can I help you?”

“Water,” Josh asks wearily. His dry insides are about to stick together.

“Exactly. We need water, cold wet cloth and a bucket, because Josh might throw up again,” Tyler frowns and flops down onto the bunk next to Josh. “And we want you to drive us away from this horrible place. And sorry for giving orders,” he adds apologetically.

“Okay,” Patrick sighs. “I’ve been travelling and just decided to get back home for a week… I’m assuming you don’t want to share with me some stories about what happened to you, guys?”

“No. We don’t want to t-talk about it,” Tyler responds quickly, avoiding Patrick’s uptight glance.

He’s right. Josh feels like only moving his tongue takes all of his strength, and he lets himself relax on the bedsheets, thinking if he should move a little to give Tyler more space beside him. Tyler is whacked and exhausted and overheated, and he definitely needs to lie down and take some rest as well.

Josh hears the water running in the bathroom area, and damn, he still remembers this place so well like he didn’t even leave it.

“It’s nice to meet my old friend again,” Tyler chuckles. “Like, we didn’t expect any help, and look at this.”

“Yeah, we…” Josh rubs his dirty face to stay awake, but the slumber is already calling for him.

“We’re going home.”

Correct. Josh grins at Tyler’s sweet words, and his eyelids drop shut again; there are footsteps and quiet voices, and then he feels a wet towel being placed on his forehead as he tilts his head back. Josh anticipates it to relieve some pain, but that pounding ache creeps deeper into Josh’s molten brain, and he just groans.

Soon enough, Patrick brings the small bottles of water, and Josh just pours it straight down his throat, the flow of a cold liquid makes him feel better, almost alive. He didn’t think water could be so tasty. They drink the water like it’s their last chance, but honestly, it doesn’t kill their thirst. They now have a lot of crap to deal with.

Josh moans again and slumps back onto the pillow; it’s soft and it smells good, and Josh feels guilty for occupying _Patrick’s_ bed. But the image of Tyler living and working in the trailer has gotten stuck in Josh’s stubborn mind. Tyler hums something under his breath, a shitty pop-song, rubbing circles on Josh’s chest, and the pain in Josh’s body becomes much more tolerant to him. His head still hurts though, but he thinks it will get better after a short nap.

“Alright. I’m not bothering you anymore- make yourself at home, take some food in the fridge if you want, I’m just gonna drive.”

It’s Patrick.

Patrick the Savior. Patrick doesn’t ask them annoying questions.

Josh is about to fall asleep when the travel trailer begins to move, and he feels so calm and safe that he can’t even think-

“Josh?”

“M?”

“Move a little,” Tyler huffs, squirming and urging Josh to lie onto his side and press his back against the wall. “Yes, nice,” he mutters contentedly as he squeezes himself onto the bunk next to Josh.

“Good?” Josh wraps his arm around Tyler’s middle, spooning him.

“Yeah,” Tyler helps Josh adjust the wet towel on his head. “But please, don’t throw up on me.”

Josh smirks and buries his nose into the crook of Tyler’s sweaty neck. It’s probably not the most romantic thing ever, but Josh enjoys what he can afford at the moment.

“Don’t be afraid, man,” Josh takes a second to process what his stomach is telling him. “I don’t need to puke anymore,” he decides.

“It’s good,” Tyler replies. “But you’re still very hot.”

Josh doesn’t think his fever is dangerously high.

“No, I’m fine. Anyway I have you to give me a bucket,” Josh says trustingly.

Tyler slaps his wrist slightly.

Tyler’s — and now Patrick’s — travel trailer has changed a lot; it now looks like just a cozy living room with the clothes scattered all over the floor, with the clean walls without any newspaper clippings, without wires or computers. It still has one small radio on the table, but it’s not Tyler’s radio and it will never catch any extraterrestrial signals and messages.

Josh thinks back of their first meetings (Josh was scared shitless at first, but his curiosity had pushed him deeper into that crap), their initially innocent relationship full of awkward touches and shy glances. Josh even wants to thank Tyler for that adventure but mostly for not leaving him alone in the middle of that horrifying desert; now, when they’re driving home, everything plays with the bright colors.

Josh doesn’t regret his choice.

 

***

All the way back home goes in a mist, because Josh just sleeps peacefully, hugging Tyler with one hand and feeling disappointed when Tyler starts poking him with his finger to wake him up.

“Where are we?” Josh asks, fighting the desire to slide back into a deep sleep.

“A gas station,” Tyler says. “I think we can take a walk; we’re pretty close already.”

“We should thank Patrick,” Josh remarks. “Like, for letting us drink his water and sleep on his bunk.”

They’re responsible for the mess they’ve made.

“Yeah. He went to buy some food,” Tyler shrugs. “I don’t know why he’s so nice to us.”

“Because you’re the former owner of this trailer?” Josh supposes, stretching his arms above his head and wincing immediately at the pain striking through his body. The towel falls from his forehead onto his lap, and Josh can tell it’s already dry.

It feels like he’d slept for hours.

Old and fresh bruises and scrapes, sunburns and calluses littering his body don’t look attractive. Tyler still has some blood-stains under his nose, and his jaw still looks a bit swollen, or maybe Josh is just being overprotective. They go to use the bathroom and wash some of the dust and dirt off their faces and hands; Josh looks at the mirror and realizes he doesn’t actually look like an exhausted prisoner. A week is not enough for starting to lose muscles; but he’s sure Tyler looks skinnier.

Then Josh starts to think of all the things he’s about to face. If he hasn’t gotten fired yet, he bets he’s pretty close to it now.

When Patrick gets back into the trailer, he says he isn’t going to let them go without having a proper dinner. If you can consider chips and other junk food as a ‘proper dinner’ that’s it.

Josh takes a slice of pizza reluctantly, because he hates when his system fails, and he isn’t interested in puking his guts out all over the sidewalk.

But he admits that he’s never seen Tyler so hungry before.

“Thank you so much for being such a cool dude,” Tyler says, gratefully taking a bag of chips and ripping it open.

“I didn’t expect to meet strangers on that abandoned road,” Patrick says, stealing a piece of pizza from the box.

“Come on, we’re not strangers,” Tyler smiles through the mouthful of chips.

“Yeah, I got lucky,” Patrick laughs quietly.

“No, thanks, really,” Josh joins the conversation, laying the half-eaten slice back into the box. He’s not hungry. “You’ve really helped us. Just… thank you, for everything.”

“Enough,” Patrick cuts Josh off.

“Well,” Tyler crumples an empty chips bag into a small ball and throws it across the room, aiming for the trash can. It’s a good throw, by the way.

“We need to go,” Josh nods.

“Okay,” Patrick says sadly. “Just… Good luck? I hope you didn’t kill anyone, really, your clothes look weird, huh, sorry.”

Josh is aware of it.

Patrick offers them to borrow his clothes, but Tyler says his NO, shaking his head vigorously. Josh thinks it’s rude, but Patrick doesn’t seem getting offended.

They shake hands and say their final goodbyes; Patrick keeps staring at them, and Josh is pretty sure his face turns as red as his uniform.

It takes awkward twenty minutes of walking down the street and hiding from the curious glances; Josh sees that Tyler clenches his teeth, trying to keep his face blank, but he’s not good at concealing his emotions.

Josh is about to jump around the stairwell when he finds a spare key tucked into a deep crack near the door of his apartment. He grabs the key and opens the door carefully like he might get attacked again.

They kick off their uncomfortable shoes and enter the hallway; Josh’s apartment still keeps some signs of that fight: overturned chairs and the footprints of the agents’ combat boots on the floor. The brown stains dried on the carpet in the living room make Josh’s heart contract painfully. There are not many blood-stains, but the liquid has already ingrained into the carpet and ruined it beyond repair.

“I’m sorry for spitting it out,” Tyler apologizes, poking the dark spot with his bare foot.

“Don’t worry about that,” Josh comforts him. Maybe his mother will give him an advice how to clean it up.

 _His Mom_.

Josh gasps and darts into the bedroom to find his cellphone lying on the bed; surprisingly, the battery is still not dead, and Josh nearly cries as he gets hit by a flashing hurricane of missed calls (176) and messages (93).

“Oh God,” Josh whispers, scrolling them down.

_‘Josh, where are you?’_

_‘What happened?’_

And the one that makes his heart stop and then explode.

_‘Are you mad at us?’_

No, Josh isn’t mad.

His Mom had called him a half an hour ago.

His hands trembling as he calls her back.

Josh manages to register two beeps before a brokenly-worried voice sneaks into his ear.

“Who is it? Hello?”

Josh swallows his unspoken words, unable to start the conversation.

“This is my son’s phone, and if you have any…”

News. Any news. Josh has a lot of news to share.

“Hey, Mom. It’s me,” Josh wheezes out, unsure if his Mom can recognize his voice. His throat hurts.

“Jesus Christ, Joshua! We were terrified, I was about to call the police! Where have you been?” she gibbers, sighing with relief.

“Hey, hey Mom, calm down,” Josh bites his tongue when Tyler peeks into the bedroom.

“Have you been with Jack all that time, haven’t you?” Josh’s Mom continues. “We couldn’t contact him properly, but he said you were alright, but you weren’t replying our messages. So, is it true?”

“Yeah, kind of,” Josh breathes out. Jack was probably afraid of Mrs. Dun’s rage so he decided to lie. “But I’m fine, really, don’t worry.”

“Can I come over? I think we need to talk,” she insists. “I miss you, Josh.”

“Yeah. I mean- yeah, miss you too, of course, Mom. You can come,” Josh agrees, looking at Tyler and noticing a glimpse of panic in his brown eyes. “But it’s pretty late, so, see you tomorrow? I swear I’m fine.” 

Tyler apparently is not pleased by hearing this phone conversation, just snorting and waiting until Josh finishes. Josh only shrugs apologetically. Tyler should meet Josh’s family anyway, sooner or later.

“She’s gonna meet us,” Josh says with a fake joyfulness.

“Great. She’ll come and she’ll say I’m n-not good enough for you because I’m not a girl,” Tyler smirks and unzips his coverall.

“No, I’m sure she’ll like you,” Josh assures.

“What are you going to say?” Tyler asks suspiciously.

“Well… ‘Hey Mom, this is my boyfriend Tyler’.”

 “…and Tyler is an alien,” Tyler finishes the sentence for Josh.

“Details are not necessary,” Josh shrugs.

“Whatever,” Tyler only rolls his eyes at Josh’s words. “I’m gonna take a shower. Are you going?”

Josh doesn’t want to act like a horny teenager, but damn, Tyler looks incredibly good in just his underwear. Josh’s glance travels from Tyler’s chest down to his lower stomach; Josh’s brain makes him think of such an arousing things like pushing his fingertips underneath the waistband of Tyler’s boxers, pulling them down his legs, and…

“Yeah, sure,” Josh starts fidgeting on the mattress. “I’m going.”

 

***

He doesn’t know why it has always been his major erotic fantasy; Josh just thinks that taking showers together is a sign of a mutual trust between the lovers.

He isn’t sure if Tyler thinks the same.

The water is warm; Josh’s nerves buzz with tension, and the shower cabin is not big enough for the two of them. Josh smears the shampoo over his greasy blue hair and silently watches thin strings of water streaming down Tyler’s tanned back. He’s slick with the shower gel, and the air in the cabin smells like menthol; they constantly touch each other _by accident_ , and it seems like Josh’s fatigue just disappears in the drain when he feels Tyler’s thigh pressed against his own.

Tyler splashes the water on his face, rubbing his eyes and spinning around to face Josh.

“Hey,” Josh grins widely, his cheeks hurt a little. Tyler’s nose is literally an inch away from his own. Such a good position for kissing.

“You, um,” Tyler raises his hand up and pulls at his wet hair. “You’re hard.”

“Yeah,” Josh can’t hold back his laughter. “This happens, you know.”

Tyler nods, chewing his bottom lip and looking into Josh’s eyes.

“I love you,” he suddenly confesses. “I love you so fucking much.”

The water in Josh’s ears distorts all the sounds. But Tyler is waiting for the answer, poking at the fading bruise on his side distractedly and pretending he’d kept his mouth shut a minute ago.

“Yes,” Josh finally exhales. “I’m, uh, I’m not good with words, but when you’re sad, a part of me dies. I want to keep you happy, just because… Because _I love you_ , and we’ve been going through tons of shit, and we’re still together, and…”

He knows he’s babbling, but Tyler doesn’t let him talk too much; he just leans forward and starts licking and sucking at Josh’s lips, and Josh promptly forgets about his fiery speech as Tyler pins him against the tiled wall.

Moaning and gripping at Tyler’s skinny thighs, Josh tries his best not to stumble and not to ruin this wonderful atmosphere of intimacy that fills up the tight space of the bathroom.

Tyler grinds against him, making almost inaudible noises of enjoyment, and Josh nearly comes right then and there when Tyler’s palm slides down to his crotch. Tyler is just teasing him, rubbing and stroking, and Josh throws his head back with a loud groan, closing his eyes and focusing on the waves of pleasure.

 _Don’t look down._ It’s like walking the plank placed between the two skyscrapers, and looking down means some metaphorical danger; Josh knows he won’t be able to control himself if he’ll see how hot Tyler looks jerking him off.

Josh balances himself against the slippery wall, but his hips keep moving in rhythm with Tyler’s hand; there is the familiar pulsation in Josh’s abdomen, and his mouth spits out just some incoherent warnings, mixed with water.

“Ty… Shit, I’m gonna- _oh_ ,” he leans against the wall limply, spilling into Tyler’s fist.

Josh feels like sweating, but the hot water instantly washes it away along with the stickiness on his lower stomach.

“Hey?” Tyler greets him with a crooked grin before paying attention on his own erection and whimpering.

“It was… cool,” Josh can barely breathe through the amount of water in his nose, and he still feels completely boneless, floating in his post-orgasm euphoria.

Josh reaches his hand out to return the favor; Tyler hisses, almost choking on his own saliva as Josh starts stroking him lazily. Tyler screws his eyes shut, eyelashes glued together, his chest heaves from the row of erratic breaths; Tyler’s body is trembling, and he’s _trying, trying, trying_ to be silent, but one high-pitched moan finally escapes his vocal chords when Josh pumps him a bit faster, and Tyler comes all over Josh’s calloused palm.

“I f-feel like... I can’t even stand,” Tyler mutters, nuzzling Josh’s neck.

“Great feeling, isn’t it?”

Tyler nods wordlessly and just melts in Josh’s tight hug. Tyler’s thighs are still sticky so Josh gently pushes him farther under the jets of water hitting from the ceiling similarly to those UFO rays.

 

***

They shove their uniforms into the wardrobe; Tyler offers to burn these clothes, and Josh just can’t disagree. They’re mopping the apartment, trying to mask the fact Josh hadn’t lived there for an entire week. Josh throws his old t-shirt on the carpet to cover the blood stain.

“I’m so nervous I feel sick,” Tyler mumbles, tangling and untangling his fingers.

“Don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay. At least, now she knows I’m not dead, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me having a boyfr-”

The doorbell rings.

When Josh opens the door, his Mom crosses the hall like a tornado, squeezing Josh into a hug and kissing both his cheeks. Then, she notices Tyler standing near the wall and pretending to be just a decorative statue.

“Hey Mom,” Josh starts as Tyler forces himself to wave his hand in greeting. “It’s Tyler, and we…”

“And you are living together, I see,” Mrs. Dun sighs as Josh blinks at her perplexedly. “He’s wearing your clothes, Josh. Hello, Tyler,” she turns to him.

Tyler takes a step forward.

“Hi, Mrs. Dun,” he swallows.

“Just Laura,” she corrects him; a second later she hugs him, and Tyler pats her back hesitantly.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t talk about that- like, I knew I was supposed to, but I just couldn’t,” Josh croaks out, staring at the parquet.

“I thought you were dating Jack,” his Mom just shrugs, releasing Tyler from her bone-crushing hug.

Tyler looks even more confused than before.

“No, no, I’m not dating Jack, calm down,” Josh chuckles.

“What happened? We hadn’t spoken for a week, and Jack only said you were busy, and people from your work had called. Don’t you dare lie to me, Joshua, if you’re using drugs-”

“Oh God, no,” Tyler groans. “We don’t do drugs. I had some problems with, um,” he pauses. “With m-my _health,_ and I just needed Josh to be near. I’m s-sorry for being such a troublemaker. I wish I could explain that to Josh’s boss or something, but I’m really sorry. I just love Josh.”

Tyler blushes at the end of his tirade, and Josh can literally taste his discomfort.

“With your health?” Laura asks concernedly. “Was it something serious?”

“Yes,” Josh says at the same time Tyler says ‘no.’

“Why didn’t you call?!” Laura buries her face in her hands. “Josh, I want you to remember- you can always talk to me or to your father if you’re uncomfortable with me. Tyler,” she keeps her voice quiet. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes. Yes, definitely,” Tyler nods hastily. “Just was a bit sick.”

“A lot sick,” Josh mutters almost angrily.

“That’s why you’re so skinny?” Josh’s Mom immediately reaches her hand and touches Tyler’s forehead.

“No, I’m skinny because… because I’m just skinny,” Tyler assures.

“You both have bruises, and I can’t ignore that.”

“Fine,” if Tyler is a terrible liar, than Josh is even worse at lying. “Here’s the truth: Tyler had gotten beaten up, and I had to take care of him because I’m a cool guy, and then I fought Tyler’s enemies. I love Tyler. The end,” Josh glances at his Mom, waiting for something.

She looks into his eyes and then into Tyler’s and sighs again.

“Boys, I know you’re hiding something from me,” she utters, and Josh starts to think about the weirdest stories he can tell.

“We’re being honest,” Tyler says. “Really.”    

“Your apartment is a mess,” Laura points out. “Do you need me to help you clean it up?”

“No, Mom. Thanks,” Josh breathes out.

“Oh, boys, it’s weird. You can sleep together or whatever, just please, don’t pretend I don’t exist,” she nearly pleads.

Josh’s cheeks always burn when his mother scolds him no matter how old he is.

“It’s really cool that you exist,” Tyler interjects. “You know, I don’t have p-parents, but I can tell you’re a cool Mom.”

Tyler’s puppy eyes and shyness multiplied by his charm work miracles.

“Just promise me that you’re not going to work for the bad guys,” she insists, scanning Josh with her gaze.

“We promise. Everything is gonna be okay, Mom.”

Josh’s hopes are his good friends.

 

**Epilogue**

Surprisingly, Josh doesn’t get fired (he drowns in his own lie, but his boss believes him anyway. Maybe, Josh is not a terrible liar), and Tyler finally finds a job in the auto-repair service he was aiming to work for.

But things are not going great. Josh keeps feeling that weird energy locked up somewhere inside of him, and he keeps waking up at nights with the blood from Tyler’s nose smeared all over his chest. When Tyler’s nosebleeds reach the level of uncontrollable ones, he finally agrees to contact Jenna.

She doesn’t respond his email though.

“How is she going to help me? Give me more tissues?” Tyler snorts, sitting on the closed toilet seat while Josh is shoving the red-stained blanket and their t-shirts into the washer (for the third time this week).

“Don’t talk. Hold the icepack over your nose,” Josh grumbles. His palms are itchy, and he even tries to move something without touching it but fails — he ends up lying on the couch and suffering from a headache.

Tyler calls them ‘Sick Boyfriends’.

Tyler’s jokes suck.

Though, everything gets worse when Josh gets a call, and a worried man’s voice says that _‘your boyfriend has probably broken his left arm, but don’t worry, we called an ambulance’_. Josh is at work, so he begs the other delivery guy to cover him up.

He meets Tyler in the emergency room.

The good thing is- Tyler’s arm isn’t broken, just terribly bruised from the shoulder to his sprained wrist, but Tyler can’t actually move his injured limb.

“I fell off the ladder. And then it fell on top of me,” Tyler explains, pressing his bandaged hand to his chest.

At least, the doctors don’t say shit about Tyler’s blood and his alien genes, which means the serum is still working.

 

***     

Jenna visits them two days later.

Josh comes home and finds her crying on Tyler’s chest and saying how much she’s sorry about their mad journey back home. Jenna looks like a tourist; she’s dressed in jeans, pink hoodie and a baseball cap which is knocked at the side as she nuzzles Tyler’s good shoulder.

“Jen, please, stop crying, my shirt is all wet,” Tyler whines, but Jenna only grips harder at his plaid shirt.

“I’m not crying. I love you, guys,” she whimpers.

Josh brings her a cup of hot tea; Jenna calms down as soon as she realizes her _friends_ are still alive and relatively unharmed.

“Nice to meet you again,” Josh says politely.

“What happened?” she asks, running her forefinger over the white bandages on Tyler’s arm. Tyler doesn’t respond. “Josh?” Jenna eyes him concernedly.

“He fell,” Josh just shrugs.

“When I’m sleeping, Josh has to watch me not to let me choke on my own blood,” Tyler huffs. “We feel like shit, Jen.”

“I’m really, really sorry, it’s probably the effect of a block serum, that one that controls your powers,” Jenna responds, turning from a neighbor-girl into the agent of VESSEL.

“Unblock it then,” Josh interrupts her speech.

“It’s not that easy, Josh, it’s illegal!” she snaps.

“Kidnapping us was illegal as well,” Josh snarls. He doesn’t want to seem rude, but he’s afraid he might just explode from the energy he’s holding unreleased.

“I have pills. They will definitely help,” Jenna gives up. “They’re for the side-effects specially.”

She rummages in her backpack and pulls out a tiny plastic bottle.

“No, thanks. I’m sure I’m gonna get different side-effects,” Tyler protests.

“It’s gonna work,” Jenna replies. “Without any effects.”

She really wants to help — Josh sees it in her eyes. She’s probably too young to work with such dangerous things, but that’s the fact.

Josh kind of wishes Jenna was there instead of Merrick during their kidnapping.

She stays here until the evening, checking Tyler out for the umpteenth time and admitting he really should take care of his health.

Josh is about to offer her to stay for a night, but she replies that Brendon is waiting for her in the car.

“I don’t wanna say goodbye,” Jenna confesses, hugging both Tyler and Josh.

“We’re not saying that,” Tyler smirks. “There’s the bond between us.”

Josh can’t help but agrees.

 

***

Tyler’s mood is terrible. He doesn’t want to take the pills Jenna brought to them, and neither does Josh.

They’re lying on the bed and watching the shadows on the ceiling.

Tyler offers to have sex, and Josh changes his position again, putting his hands on Tyler’s chest as gently as he can, but Tyler keeps choking back the pained moans and nearly kicks Josh in the groin.

Josh runs out of patience.

“How do you want me to fuck you if I can’t even touch you?!” he wonders.

“I don’t know!” Tyler shouts, wriggling. He doesn’t wear those bandages anymore, and Josh’s palm slides right across his hot and broken skin.

Alright, Tyler can’t just step over the pain, and Josh isn’t going to force him.

Josh is about to just give him a handjob and go to sleep, but then he gets a pretty good idea that literally strikes him.

“Come on,” Josh commands and tugs at the front of Tyler’s t-shirt. “Get up. I’m bottoming,” he bites his lip, staring at the outlines of the boner in Tyler’s boxers.

“That’s nice,” Tyler agrees. Josh promptly hands him the condoms; he knows Tyler has never topped before, so Josh has to hurry not to make his kinda inexperienced boyfriend come in his pants from pure excitement. 

It’s been a while since Josh’s last bottoming, but Tyler is going to prepare him. So Tyler does, accidentally staining the bedsheets with lube, but the overwhelming desire to finally get off is so vivid it makes them forget about the chaos they’re creating. They’re drowning and emerging, then drowning again, and Josh’s moans ring in his ears when Tyler thrusts into him, leaning forward and sinking his teeth into a flesh of Josh’s neck.

Josh takes a millisecond to appraise how handsome Tyler is- brown sparkling eyes, pink lips, a perfectly tanned body covered with a pattern of geometric tattoos, and Josh _loves_ it.

Their hips rocking, skin slapping against skin; Josh almost feels like he’s a virgin — not anymore — his ass burns, his heart turns into a bird trapped in his chest, and only Tyler’s hands on his shoulders don’t let him feel completely weightless.

“J-josh,” Tyler exhales shakily, coming and slumping on the soft mattress beside Josh. “Oh. I almost forgot,” he reaches his hand to grab at Josh’s cock and stroke him a few times, awkwardly and messily, but it’s enough to push Josh over the edge.

Josh’s muscles tense and then relax, making him swallow his groans as he comes, feeling a small sticky pool spreading across his bare stomach.

There are tiny needles sticking out of his palms, he tries to wipe this sensation away, but it’s something different, and Josh doesn’t want to deal with it right now.

“Tyler,” he whispers. “It was amazing.”

“I know,” Tyler grins, throwing his bruised arm over Josh’s chest.

“Shower?” Josh offers innocently.

The shower cabin is _still_ not big enough for the two of them, though.

But it doesn’t matter.

“Yeah,” Tyler nods. “Shower.”

 

***

Josh blinks his eyes open and nearly sneezes, because the fluffy hair on the top of Tyler’s head tickles his nose. Josh wants to flip him over — Tyler is lying on his left side, and it’s probably hella uncomfortable.

Josh ends up just shaking him awake and explaining him he shouldn’t hurt himself this way.

“My arm doesn’t hurt anymore,” Tyler says sleepily.

“Sex works miracles,” Josh blurts out.

“No, it’s like… Just doesn’t hurt, you know?” Tyler tugs the collar of his t-shirt, trying to look at his injured shoulder. “Huh. The bruise is gone?!” he jumps up on the bed and takes his t-shirt off in a rush. “Josh, look, it’s- it’s gone!”

It looks like somebody washed that sickening paint off Tyler’s tanned skin.

“Wow,” Josh scratches the back of his head. “Does it mean…”

“My ability is back,” Tyler sighs. “I hate it.”

“But I’m sure it will stop your nosebleeds,” Josh attempts to comfort his boyfriend. He hopes the VESSEL agents aren’t chasing them already; Josh is scared, to be honest.

“Yeah. The serum can’t block me for forever,” Tyler looks down at his mark, rubbing it. “Dudes from my work ask what this sign means. And I don’t know what t-to say. Maybe I should try to get all the tattoos removed?” he suddenly raises his head up.

“No. Please, don’t,” Josh nearly cuts him off.

“Fine,” Tyler shrugs indifferently. “Breakfast?”

“I like breakfasts,” Josh agrees.

In the kitchen Tyler tries to cook scrambled eggs, and Josh tries not to spoil Tyler’s surprisingly good mood. He just drinks his coffee, checking his emails (Jack wants to meet Josh’s _sweet boyfriend_ , and Josh spits the coffee back into the mug) and hoping Tyler won’t set the apartment on fire. It seems like the frying pan slowly turns into Hell for the eggs.

“Josh, pass me the salt,” Tyler turns away from the stove. 

Josh wants to take a salt cellar from the kitchen table he’s sitting at, but the little glass thing just storms away by itself, and Tyler barely manages to catch it in the air.

“Impressive,” Tyler says, staring at the salt cellar like it’s a tiny UFO.

“Impressive,” Josh concurs.

He wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans; honestly, he’s grateful he didn’t move the table along with the kettle and a cutting board.

VESSEL didn’t break them, just made them stronger. Though, Josh has no clue how he’s going to hide his powers from everyone, from Jenna especially.

Tyler turns the stove off and sits down onto the windowsill, biting his thumb and thinking.

“They won’t catch us again,” he says.

“But if Jenna will find out…”

“She loves me,” Tyler replies. “She’ll keep silent.”

“Playing with her feelings is rude,” Josh points out.

“I’m not playing,” Tyler rolls his eyes in irritation. “She’ll protect us anyway.”

It’s the weirdest kind of help.

“We’re not getting back to VESSEL,” Tyler pauses. “Jenna can just vaccinate us again, then we’ll t-take those pills, and everything is gonna be fine.” 

“I can’t control my telekinesis sometimes.”

“But we have a lot of time to teach you how to curb it. Let’s start training today.”

Tyler’s confidence is like a ray of light shining through the dark clouds.

“Deal,” Josh nods, moving his mug across the table without touching it.

The time is on their side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bye-bye, pretty thing.  
> \---  
> thanks for reading!  
> \---  
> song references:  
> twenty one pilots - forest  
> dope - my funeral  
> \---  
> UPD: i wrote [ a sequel](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7591915/chapters/17275492)


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